Stitches
by sweetsheart
Summary: The general rule of thumb in Marie's life was 'Don't do anything unnecessarily reckless.' Unfortunately, one night, that rule of thumb got lost in translation; or rather, in a particular set of green eyes. One night leads to a whole lot more. SteinxMarie. First story in the 'Stitches' series.
1. So, It Begins

**A/N: Hey, guys! So, I was getting really annoyed at the lack of SteinxMarie love going around, so I decided to write this fic. About this chapter, yes, there's sex, but I made sure that it was implied, as opposed to all the graphical, sweaty details. Because, if I'd put all that in, then I'd have to give this fic an 'M' rating, and the rest of the fic would have been 'T' at worst. So, yeah, this should be taken with the highest 'T' rating for, what I'm calling 'sex prologue,' and such. Plus, if you don't like reading or don't want to read this, don't be discouraged, you CAN read the rest of the story without reading this chapter. Or, you can just read after the border that I've put for those less smut-inclined than myself. Also, don't read this story if you don't like fluff. Because quite a bit of this fic is fluffy.**

**One other thing just generally about the story, you really don't appreciate how hard it is to explain in your fics how the hell Stein has all these feelings which he doesn't really display in the series until you have to write it. So, I think I've done alright, but I apologise if, in some places, Stein seems slightly OOC. In my opinion, Stein can understand and display these feelings; it's just that nobody's given him a chance to display them (except Marie, which is why I'm writing this fic!) Sorry if you don't really care about this, I'm just pedantic.**

**This story is also based mainly on the anime. Some chapters are based ****solely**** on the anime, and I'll label those. One plot point that is consistently from the anime is Marie's Wavelength of Redemption saving Stein from the madness. Okay? :) **

**And thanks to kyonkichi's kitten, my friend and essentially my beta reader. **

**Sorry for the really long A/N.**

**Ri-chan x**

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><p>Marie laced her fingers through the short, choppy, silver mop of hair that was attached to the man, her best friend, who was currently kissing her. Funny thing was, she was currently him kissing back with just as much fire. She couldn't believe it. She didn't know what to call it. Did she 'fix' him? She sure relieved him of his madness. She just didn't know what else she'd managed to uncover.<p>

All she knew was that she liked it.

She probably would have liked it when they were both students at Shibusen. But, better late than never, I suppose. She'd just been put at ease, the Kishin having been defeated and Crona having been guaranteed safety at Shibusen. And Stein had saved Crona's life. If anyone asked, she was repaying him.

Stein had developed a whole other set of feelings when he was released from his madness, feelings that had been locked up for years, and even some feelings which were locked up before Stein was old enough to experience them. Some feelings that Stein probably couldn't even associate with a term. But there was one that he recognised. It was hard not to.

Anyone who had passed through the ranks of awkward teenager knew what it was.

The feeling was one that, due to his lack of it, previously prevented him from getting even remotely close to the woman who obviously cared so much about him. It was something other than madness that was encapsulating the doctor.

It was something that made him want to do things of an inappropriate nature to the golden haired woman before him. And, rarely for him, things which didn't involve a scalpel.

Marie pulled on the collar of Stein's trademark lab coat, enticing him into his bedroom. That, or she was trying to get it off him. Or both. Either way, Stein was discovering a whole other side to himself. An emotional side. A passionate side. A lustful side. A side which was obviously taking over Marie at the moment, as well.

Stein smirked at Marie as he picked her up and placed her over his shoulder. In essence, this was as bad as the madness. It was encapsulating him and he couldn't escape. However, this was a lot more fun than the madness.

And involved a lot more breathlessness.

Not to mention the fact that when the madness was overtaking him, there was a lot less undressing of gorgeous blonde Deathscythes.

Stein chuckled slightly as Marie slid from his grasp and landed on her back on the bed. She pulled at the incessantly clingy fabric of Stein's shirt and pulled him close to her as he slipped off his white, stitch-laden coat and followed her coaxing.

Stein propped himself up using both his arms which were placed either side of Marie. She giggled slightly as she slid his two tone grey shirt over his back and broad shoulders. Stein found the small, hidden zip on the side of Marie's skirt and unzipped it, sliding the cotton fabric off and onto his bedroom floor.

He grinned at her with the slightest amount of mad scientist in his glare, which Marie knew and loved. It was nice to know that she hadn't completely changed him. This suited her, because, well, nobody likes a completely sane man, right?

Stein lifted his arms only to completely remove his shirt. He got up onto the bed and knelt either side of Marie, ripping open her black blouse and revealing the soft, pale skin of her stomach. He slipped his hand under the elastic of Marie's eyepatch and took it off. He stopped for a second. Marie looked confused.

"Why do you wear that eyepatch, Marie?" He asked, kneeling up over her.

"Really? Now?" Marie asked, cocking an eyebrow. To be perfectly honest, there was no reason for Marie to wear her eyepatch. Sure, it glowed when she was giving someone her Wavelength of Redemption, but it wasn't like that all the time. Pure coincidence. To be honest, she was poked in the eye when she was five and was now quite overcautious.

"Apologies, Marie. I-" Stein was cut off by Marie.

"Uh uh. Less talking, more..." Marie smiled, her voice running out as she ran her finger down the rippling muscles and stitches on Stein's chest, shuddering slightly in awe as she did so. She grabbed the front of his waistband and pulled his body on top of hers.

He landed on her and she let out a soft grunt as the flesh of their torsos met. She switched places with him, rolling on top of him and sitting up, slipping off her blouse. She flicked her hair over the top of her head and laid down on Stein's chest, breathing in his ear as he unfastened her bra, which was oddly colour-coded with her clothing.

"_Must be a woman thing._" Stein thought.

Marie sat back up, her hair still covering her face, and flicked her bra halfway across the room. Stein sat up once again, Marie lacing her only-underpants-clad legs around his waist. He threaded his fingers through Marie's golden mane of hair, pushing it away from her face and kissing her passionately once again.

Marie pressed her finger against the centre of Stein's chest, pushing him down onto the bed. She slid herself backwards, unzipping his trousers and pulling them off in one deft movement. She pulled both herself and Stein under the quilt covers and began what would be the night that those two souls would come damn close to becoming one.

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><p>The next morning, Stein awoke to the faint sound of boiling water. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and cranked his screw backwards twice until it clicked, trying to clear his thoughts.<p>

He remembered exactly what had happened last night, and even if he had forgotten, the lack of clothes on his person and the clothes of two people strewn around his bedroom probably gave it away.

He smirked slightly and stretched his arms out above him, feeling his muscles strain.

"_I didn't think I was that rusty._" Stein thought to himself, hoping Marie hadn't noticed last night. He went to try and grab his glasses off of his bedside table, but they weren't there. He glanced around his floor, but they were nowhere to be seen. Stein cracked his neck, and as he turned back to his door, a blonde woman wearing nothing more than a pair of yellow and black underwear, a stitched lab coat and an awfully familiar looking pair of glasses was standing there, holding two cups of coffee.

"Good morning." Marie smiled, placing the cup of coffee on Stein's side of the bed and placing a light kiss on the top of his head. She looked slightly embarrassed as she turned away, walking to the other side of the bed, placing the coffee on the other bedside table and sitting down, shivering slightly. She didn't really want to get back into her normal outfit. It was rather tight and was quite starchy and stiff, even after the treatment it had been put through last night.

Stein glanced over at her and slid out of the bed, pulled on the pair of boxers which were strewn next to his bed and glanced in his wardrobe.

"What are you doing, Franken?" Marie said. Stein smirked. She only called him Franken when she was happy with him. Or if she was mad at him. It was too early in the morning for him to distinguish between the two. He pulled out a grey, stitched t-shirt and gave it to her.

"Here. You look cold." Stein said, giving a compassionate smile. They were another couple of feelings that Stein had only just discovered. Compassion and sympathy. Although Stein was able to feel these emotions, that didn't mean they didn't confuse him.

"Thank you, Stein." Marie smiled as she turned away, slipping off the lab coat and putting the t-shirt on. She slipped underneath the quilt and sighed contently, sipping the cup of coffee.

"That's alright." Stein replied. After a slightly awkward silence, Marie spoke.

"Look, Stein. Last night was... last night was great. You were a little rusty, but..." Marie trailed off, laughing slightly.

"_Damn._" Stein muttered under his breath.

"Anyway. You showed me that... I don't need to get married to be happy. I love working at Shibusen, now that our deals with Medusa are cut. And, I know that you're only just discovering all these feelings. So, we can go back to just being good friends, I hope. At least until you're used to your new emotional range." Marie said.

"Of course we can still be friends, Marie." Stein said, holding out his hand as she placed hers on top of his.

"I'm glad, Stein." Marie smiled. She glanced up at Stein, still wearing his glasses.

"Wh- Why are you wearing my glasses?" Stein asked.

"Oh. Uh... Well, I've... I've kind of always wanted to wear your glasses." Marie giggled.

"Really?" Stein asked.

"Yeah. They're kinda... _sexy_." Marie smiled, sultrily.

"I can safely say I've never heard anyone describe them like that before." Stein said to her. He looked into her multi-toned amber eyes as she glanced back at his green ones. She was captured in the glare as the next words flew out of her mouth.

"You know how I said we should be good friends again?" Marie said, beginning to breathe more deeply, sliding closer to Stein, turning over and kneeling next to him. She bit her bottom lip as her stomach did somersaults.

"Yes..." Stein said, pressing his forehead against Marie's.

"I lied." Marie said, connecting her lips with Stein's again, forcefully and passionately, as Stein was pushed back against his bed head.

Little did they know, they were going to become a lot more than just good friends in the coming months.

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><p><strong>AN: So, how'd you like it? I tried not to make it too explicit, hopefully it wasn't too bad. The plan is to have this fic finished before I start posting it so I don't have to keep continually writing, so I hope you like the next chapter!**


	2. That Funny Feeling

**A/N: Hey, guys. Wow, second chapter and you're still reading? I love you guys. This is dedicated to everyone who read the first chapter. So, I hope you didn't mind it. Keep reading, I promise that it'll get better. This chapter is a little bit vague, because I can't do the next chapter before doing this one. Please R&R!**

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><p>Marie was back to her post of teacher in Class Crescent Moon at Shibusen, and she should have been happier than ever. She had a class who was free from the stress that they had been put under because of Arachnophobia, Medusa and the Kishin, and she was teaching alongside her new flame of six weeks, Doctor Stein. However, today wasn't like that.<p>

She was feeling terribly lethargic, she felt sick most of the time and couldn't stand for very long without feeling faint. What was worse was, Stein was out in the courtyard settling some differences between Soul, Black*Star and Kid, who, as usual, had his twin pistols, Liz and Patti, in tow. So, Marie was only completely familiar with Maka and Tsubaki and the class. She knew Ox, Kilik and their friends, but the last thing they wanted to do was talk about how bad their teacher was feeling.

Maka and Tsubaki must have noticed Marie's loud sighing, so they went to investigate. Marie was sitting at the desk at the front of the class, her head resting heavily on her hand. Maka and Tsubaki walked down with their textbooks.

"Maka, Tsubaki, what seems to be the problem?" Marie asked, her tone lacklustre.

"We were just wondering what this question me-" Tsubaki was cut off.

"What's the matter, Marie-sensei?" Maka asked, walking around to her teacher who was obviously in some kind of distress.

"Maka-chan!" Tsubaki said. Tsubaki was a warm, inviting person, but she wasn't one to ask questions like that to her superiors. Just before Marie went to answer, the chimes which signalled the end of lesson rang, causing the children to all file out for lunch break.

"Oh, it's... it's nothing, Maka. I'm just not feeling very well, that's all." Marie said, trying to put on a happy face.

"Are you sure, Marie-sensei?" Tsubaki asked, feeling more obliged to ask as Marie had replied.

"Well..." Marie turned to watch the last student walk out the door, and began once again, "No, I'm not sure at all, Tsubaki." Marie looked up at Maka and Tsubaki, her uncovered eye welling up with tears. Maka and Tsubaki pulled up chairs to comfort her. Out of all the Shibusen teachers, Marie was the most approachable, and was the favourite teacher of a lot of the female students.

"Marie-sensei, don't cry." Maka said, placing a friendly arm around Marie's shoulder.

"I can't help it, Maka." Marie replied.

"But why are you crying?" Tsubaki said.

"Well... I just made the decision to stay at Shibusen, because I love working with you children, and then I start feeling sick all the time. Maybe somebody is punishing me." Marie looked down, sadly.

"No, no, Marie-sensei, that's not what it's like at all." Maka replied.

"Yeah, why would anyone want to punish you? You're wonderful, Marie-sensei." Tsubaki replied, her voice soft.

"And you're a great teacher." Maka added.

"And you're so pretty." Tsubaki said. As females, they knew exactly what other crying females wanted to hear. Marie looked up, sniffed, and smiled.

"Th-thankyou, Tsubaki. And you too, Maka. You're excellent students." Marie said, smiling as she hugged the two teenage girls who had comforted her.

"No problem, Marie-sensei." Maka said. As she and Tsubaki turned around, they were confronted by a silver-haired man sitting on a patchwork upholstered desk chair.

"Maka, Tsubaki, what are you still doing here?" Stein asked.

"Oh, we were just talking to Marie-sensei, she said that she was feeling sick." Maka said, oblivious to Marie shaking her head behind her. As Maka turned to face Marie, she saw her shaking her head and her face turned to worry.

"I mean... we were talking about... homework?" Maka lied, nervously.

"Your soul is getting agitated." Stein remarked.

"Oh, look at that, I have to go and meet up with Soul, goodbye Doctor Stein, Marie-sensei, let's go, Tsubaki!" Maka fretted, grabbing Tsubaki by a wrist and walking out of the classroom. Tsubaki smiled sweetly and waved to the two teachers as she was dragged by an unusually strong Maka outside.

I guess embarrassment will do that to a person.

Marie dropped her head into her hands. Stein shut the door to the classroom and rolled backwards over to Marie.

"What's wrong, Marie?" Stein asked, concernedly.

"Nothing, Stein. Just a little headache, that's all. Really." Marie said.

"Marie, don't lie to me." Stein said, softly.

"Really. I'm fine. See?" Marie said, bolting her head up and smiling overzealously at Stein. She stood up and walked past him, but nearly tripped over herself as she began to feel faint. Stein stood up and swiftly rolled the chair under Marie, pushed on her shoulders and made her sit down.

"Stein, let me go!" Marie said, her tone both annoyed and relieved at her new sitting position. If she'd walked more than two steps out of the classroom door, she would have fallen in a heap. Stein placed his hands on the top of his chair and began to wheel Marie out of the classroom.

"Stein! I'm not a paraplegic, I can walk." Marie said, crossing her arms in exasperation.

"Judging by that last display, I don't think you can walk. Faculty room?" Stein replied, still pushing Marie through the hallways.

"People are staring at me, Stein." Marie said, glaring up at the slightly grinning scientist. They passed Maka and Tsubaki, who had caught up with Soul and Black*Star, who were looking worse for wear, and Kid, Liz and Patti. Soul looked at Stein pushing Marie through the hallways.

"Hey, Stein, when's my turn on the chair?" Soul yelled. Maka glared at him.

"Maka... CHOP!" Maka brought down the unusually unforgiving spine of her "Advanced Guide to Soul Perception" textbook in the middle of Soul's head. Tsubaki, Liz and Patti tried to stifle giggles, but let their laughter flow once they saw Soul's red eyes open again.

"Maka!" Soul exclaimed, barely conscious. Maka glared at him.

"Leave them alone. That's what friends do for other friends, Soul." Maka frowned at Soul.

"Geez, Maka, calm down." Soul replied. Meanwhile, Marie was still disgruntled at the fact that she was being pushed along the hallways of Shibusen like she had some sort of problem.

"Stein, I'll get up and walk, really." Marie said, digging her heels into the floor and stopping the chair. As she went to stand up, she felt another wave of dizziness come over her. The room began to spin.

"Marie?" Stein asked as Marie sat back down.

"Just take me to the faculty room." Marie said, reluctant in defeat. Stein smiled slightly, realising his triumph. He decided to spare Marie embarrassment and took the back route to the faculty room. As Stein rolled Marie into the room, Sid walked up to him.

"What are you doing, Stein?" Sid asked.

"Marie's not well." Stein replied, placing his hand around Marie's waist and moving her onto the couch.

"Thank you, Stein." Marie said, sighing as she lied down on the couch. She felt terrible. Stein sat down on his chair near Marie's head.

"Marie, why don't you go home?" Sid asked.

"Because I go home with Stein." she replied, propping herself up slightly.

"Really? Do you two live near each other?" Sid asked, sitting on the couch opposite to them. Stein and Marie glanced at each other, their faces puzzled.

"I could have sworn that your memory was preserved when you were stabbed by the Goddess of Freedom." Stein glanced, leaning back in his chair. Sid continued to look perplexed.

"Sid, we live together." Marie said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Oh, sorry. I'm quite forgetful. That's the kind of man I was." Sid replied.

"I'm sure you were." Stein replied. Marie felt a thumping pain in her head.

"Stein, do you have to speak so loudly?" Marie said, closing her eyes.

"I'm not speaking that loudly, Marie." Stein said, scratching his head.

"I'm sure you are." Marie said, turning over and facing the back of the couch, falling asleep.

"She shouldn't be here." Sid said.

"I know. I'll take care of her." Stein replied. Sid left the faculty room and headed back to the main Shibusen hallways. Stein looked at Marie with concern. She didn't seem like herself. He slipped off his lab coat and covered Marie with it.

He pulled the hair away from Marie's face. She stirred lightly and grabbed his hand, cuddling it close to her chest. Stein chuckled slightly and dextrously removed his hand.

It seemed Doctor Stein was flying solo for the afternoon's classes.

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><p><strong>AN: I apologise that this chapter wasn't very eventful. I tend to have a problem with my fics moving too fast, so I'll probably be doing one eventful chapter, one less eventful chapter, etc. So, sorry for this, but otherwise my story arcs fall to bleurgh. That is a word. Thanks for reading!**


	3. There's Your Problem

**A/N: Alright, hopefully this chapter will be more eventful. Well, it **_**is**_** more eventful. I know it'll be. This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has only just joined the Soul Eater fanfiction reading society. Welcome to the club! So, hope you like it!**

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><p>Much to Stein's dismay, Marie had returned to Shibusen just a week after her bout with the mystery illness. What dismayed him even more was the fact that she hadn't gotten over it. She was stuck to her seat as she taught in sync with Stein, merely watching on as he demonstrated and explained his skilled fighting techniques. It was only first lesson and Marie was already tired and feeling sick. She rolled her eyes as Black*Star stood on his desk and began to yell at Stein.<p>

"YAHOO! That's nothing compared to my brilliant techniques!" Black*Star jumped off the desk, landing just in front of Stein. Black*Star cracked his knuckles and adopted a fighting stance.

"Ah, students, here is a perfect example of arrogance overwhelming concentration." Stein replied, rolling over on his chair to Black*Star.

"What are you talking about? I am-"

"Double Palm Soulstrike." Stein said, nonchalantly, pressing his wrists together and forcing his palms against Black*Star's chest, as an array of what appeared as green lightning bolts surged from his hands to Black*Star. He exclaimed in pain as he was smashed against the bottom row of desks, knocking him unconscious.

"Black*Star!" Tsubaki exclaimed.

"Calm down, Tsubaki. He'll awake by the end of lesson. Death forbid, he might have even learnt something." Stein replied, causing the class, sans Tsubaki, to giggle slightly.

Stein, surprisingly, managed to roll his chair up the small ledge which the teacher of the class sat on, without falling over. Stein was skilled at manoeuvring the chair, just as long as he didn't pass any doorways. He turned to Marie.

"Marie, did you want to start the next chapter?" Stein asked.

"Oh, yes, of course." Marie said. She took a deep breath and stood up, still feeling dizzy, before walking around to the other side of the desk. She leant heavily on the desk with one hand as she opened the textbook, "Resonating Techniques 101," and began to speak.

"O-Okay, class. Let's open our b-books to p-page 45..." Marie faded out, the class becoming blurry, her hand beginning to shake. She went to begin reading again, but dropped the textbook.

"Marie, let me get that." Stein said, bending down to pick up the textbook.

"No, no I'll get it..." Marie said, kneeling down to get it as well. However, as she did so, her knees buckled and her vision went black. As she fell to the ground, she heard a familiar male voice and several teenage voices say her name.

"Marie!" Stein exclaimed, jumping off his chair and onto his knees, next to Marie.

"Marie-sensei!" Maka exclaimed, along with a few other students, standing up and trying to see over the rows of desks in front of them.

"Marie? Marie, can you hear me? Marie?" Stein said quietly, pulling Marie's head onto his lap. He looked behind him at the solemnly quiet class.

"Alright, class. I am going to take Marie to Naigus-sensei. Unless you want a screw like mine through your skull, I suggest you keep quiet and read." Stein said, a deadly serious look on his face. The class did not reply, but simply picked up their books and began to read. Stein was scary, when he wanted to be.

"If he wakes up, tell him the same, Maka." Stein said, pointing to Black*Star. Maka looked up and nodded. Stein looked at Marie. It didn't seem like she had a concussion or any broken bones. She wasn't benefited by lying in front of a shocked class. Stein slipped one arm under her shoulder, the other under her knees, and picked Marie up with seeming ease.

Marie stirred slightly, much to Stein's relief, as he carefully moved her from the floor out into the hallways, then down said hallway to the infirmary. In there, he carefully placed Marie, who was still out cold, onto one of the constantly empty beds. He then went over to the medical office, the one which he shared with Naigus, and found her organising the cupboards.

"Franken? Aren't you supposed to be teaching?" she asked him.

"Mira, it's Marie. She passed out in class. I need to go back to supervise, but can you please check on her?" Stein said, his voice still calm and collected. Naigus simply nodded and walked over to the infirmary. Stein walked out of the office and glanced over in the infirmary. Marie had managed to prop herself up and had opened her eyes. Stein breathed a sigh of relief as he walked away.

"Mira?" Marie said, as she woke up in the unfamiliar environment of the infirmary.

"Marie. Franken said that you passed out." Naigus said, sitting on the bed next to Marie.

"Oh... Did I?" Marie said, feeling the dizziness once again take over her.

"How long have you been feeling dizzy like this, Marie?" Naigus asked, walking over to a cabinet in the corner of the room.

"Oh, um, not very long." Marie lied.

"Marie. Don't try and lie to me." Naigus said back, coming back to sit next to Marie, holding a blood pressure meter.

"Mira... Fine. About a month and a half." Marie said back, reluctantly.

"See. I know this. Can you take your top off, please? I have to take your blood pressure." Naigus said. Marie nodded and slipped off her blouse. Naigus strapped the meter around Marie's arm.

"What are you doing?" Marie asked.

"Just taking your blood pressure, Marie. Calm down." Naigus smiled at her, or flashed her what vaguely looked like a smile through her bandages.

"Wha-oh. This is getting awfully tight, Mira." Marie's eyes darted nervously. Naigus nodded, taking off the bandage. Her eyes widened.

"Oh, no... is this bad?" Marie fretted, trying to lean over and see the reading.

"Well... it's a bit high." Naigus sighed, folding up the meter and replacing it in the drawer, taking out a syringe in its place. Marie's eyes widened and she began to twitch nervously. As Naigus approached her, she flinched, crawling backwards towards the wall.

"Mira… I only passed out. Do you really have to… I _hate_ needles." Marie said, hyperventilating slightly.

"Marie, you'll be fine. It'll be over in two seconds." Naigus said. Marie, still nervous, turned her head to the side, shut her eyes tightly and stuck her arm out.

"Fine. But make it quick." Marie said, close to crying and trembling slightly. Naigus looked at her sympathetically, and held her arm, looking for the vein. As she brushed the needle slightly against Marie's arm, she pulled away.

"Marie!" Naigus replied.

"I'm sorry, Mira! I-" Marie said, looking down at the needle which Naigus had put in her arm as she wasn't looking. Instead of exclaiming in pain, she began to turn white as Naigus drew the blood. By the time she had enough for a sample, Marie's face had gone completely pale.

"M-Mira, I-I don't f-feel so good..." Marie said, shivering slightly.

"Come on, Marie. Lie down and rest here for the day. Franken will take all of your classes, but you need to rest. I can tell that much." Naigus said, walking over to a bench, taking a vial and filling it with Marie's sample. As she scribbled on a label, she turned back to Marie.

"We should have your samples back by the end of the day, if I tell the hospital that it's for a Deathscythe teacher at Shi-" Naigus took a good look at Marie, who had fallen asleep already, only under the thin covering of the infirmary sheets. Naigus shook her head, smiled, and stuck the label to the vial. She opened a drawer which contained blankets, pulled one out and covered Marie with it.

She once again picked up the vial, as well as scribbling a note onto a piece of paper. She looked at it, shook her head, crossed something out and wrote it again, smiling this time. She glanced over at Marie, who was still sound asleep, and left the infirmary, shutting the door and sticking a note to it as she left. The note read:

_Infirmary closed for today. If you need medical attention, __go and see Doctor Stein__ too bad. Stop getting into fights. Yes, I'm talking to you, Black*Star._

Naigus took one last look at the sign she had written and smiled. She knew that the boy she had helped raise would appreciate her little joke. Or, perhaps hate her for it. Either way, it was true. She walked down the corridors and out the front entrance of Shibusen, off to find out just what was wrong with Marie.

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><p>Marie awoke to the familiar chimes of the end of lesson. She sat up, rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock. The time suggested that the students were heading off to one final lesson. Marie sighed, slid out of the bed and stretched. She felt a bit better, but she still felt something niggling at her, a dizziness which just wouldn't go away. She slipped her top back on and did it up. As she was about to leave the infirmary, Naigus stepped in front of her.<p>

"Uh, Marie... I need to talk to you about your test results." Naigus said, her voice solemn. Marie's pupils expanded as she adopted a defensive stance.

"Oh, goodness, is it bad? It's bad, isn't it? It's very, very bad. I knew it was going to be ba-" Marie was cut off.

"No, no, Marie... It's the exact opposite. I think." Naigus said, taking Marie's arm and leading her over to her desk.

"It's _good_? How can this constant dizziness, headaches and sickness be good?" Marie asked, confused.

"Uh, Marie... how can I ask you this? Uh... when was your last- no. Um... when did you last ha-no, that's no good either." Naigus said, rather jumpily.

"Mira... what's wrong with me?" Marie said, placing her hands on top of Naigus'.

"Well," Naigus gulped, "Your blood test results came back. They showed elevated levels of a hormone called relaxin." Naigus said.

"Relaxin? Believe me, with Class Crescent Moon, I am the opposite of relaxed." Marie said, laughing.

"N-No. Marie, this hormone, relaxin? It only presents itself when something happens. In a woman's life." Naigus said, hoping that Marie would get the hint without her actually having to say anything.

"I'm not following." Marie said. Naigus sighed. She clutched onto Marie's hands. She knew how happy she was at Shibusen. She knew that Marie had just resettled into a routine of work. She was about to shake it all up.

"Marie..." Naigus said, looking up at the oblivious hammer.

"You're pregnant."

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><p><strong>AN: OMG. No way. That was so unexpected, right? Anyways, sorry if it was a bit predictable. I'll try to make the next few chapters less predictable. I hope you liked it anyway! Plus, I'm very proud of the part that Naigus has played in this chapter. She's so underappreciated. Oh, and BTW, in this story, I'm following the rather widespread (I think it's widespread) presumption that Naigus is like a mother figure to Black*Star. Because I think it's sweet. See you next chapter! **


	4. In Damage Control

**Chapter 4**

**A/N: (8) We're at chapter fo-our, we're at chapter fo-our... (8) so glad we've made it this far. Would like to take this chance to thank kyonkichi's kitten, one of my darling best friends and the one who has gotten me onto this lifestyle choice/career path/future plan that is Soul Eater. So blame her for the crap I'm writing. LOL, jk. *shameless advertising* If you or anyone else wants to read KidxMaka fics, read hers, because I get hugs and fist-bumps if I get her readers *end shameless advertising* Once again, if you didn't see the last A/N in chapter 3, in this story, I'm presuming that Naigus is like a mother figure to Black*Star because I ship SidxNaigus like a boss.**

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><p>Marie's hands dropped to her sides as the last two words came out of Naigus' mouth.<p>

"Now, I can prescribe you something for the dizziness and morning sickness, now that we know the cause..." Naigus began.

"NO! No, no, we can't just do that. You... You have to talk to me about this." Marie said, a slightly crazed look in her eye.

"Marie? Wait... Can't you talk to Yumi or Franken about this?" Naigus asked. Marie thought about it. She couldn't talk to Azusa at the moment. She was out of Shibusen on some mission which needed her clairvoyance skills, skills which were second to none. And she couldn't talk to Stein, because...

"_Stein_!" Marie said, her eyes opening wide and her jaw falling open. She stood up and began to pace around the room.

"_No... it can't be, can it? No! No, it... it has to be. Oh, no, it has to be. It can't be anyone else... Oh my... Stein..." _Marie thought to herself, still pacing. Naigus stood up in front of her, putting her hands up in front of Marie.

"Why can't you talk to Yumi or Franken? Marie, you've got to answer me. Breathe." Naigus said, guiding Marie to the chair. Tears sprung to Marie's eyes as she did so. It was funny how the hormones hadn't kicked in until she was told about her pregnancy.

"Well... I can't talk to Yumi, because she's off on a mission," Marie sobbed and sniffed, "and I can't talk to Franken because he's the fa-" Marie quickly clasped her hands over her mouth as she realised what she was about to say. Unfortunately, Naigus was more attentive than she had anticipated. Naigus' jaw dropped.

"Franken's the father?" she whispered.

"Shh! Mira, you can't tell him." Marie glared.

"And what are you going to do when the baby comes out with silver hair, hey?" Naigus asked, looking at the red-eyed Marie.

"I...I don't know." Marie said.

"Well, you don't have long. You're six weeks now, your baby's soul will become visible to even relatively unskilled meisters at three months. It's only a matter of time before Franken finds out."

As Marie went to talk, Stein walked into the infirmary.

"Oh? Back so soon, Mira? Did you get the results?" Stein asked, walking over to the cupboard which contained general miscellaneous medical supplies. Naigus quickly minimised the window on the computer monitor which read Marie's results, which Stein would easily be able to decode.

"Oh, no, we're just waiting for them to be faxed through." Naigus lied.

"Faxed? I didn't know we even_ had_ a fax machine." Stein said, pulling out a roll of bandage.

"Oh, Doctor Nakamura's working at the hospital today. You know what happens with him and technology." Naigus replied, referring to the seemingly infinitely aging Doctor Nakamura who couldn't work a computer to save his life. He was actually a two-star meister who had abandoned his violent trade for something more peaceful. Apparently medical horrors and grotesque accidents were a step up the Death City moral ladder.

"I see. Well, I'd better go and patch up Black*Star." Stein replied. Naigus, her mother-like instincts turning on, glared at him.

"Did you hurt him, Franken?" Naigus said, fiercely.

"No. He walked into a door. It's surprising that the boy can take multiple wounds in battle, but cries when he gets a splinter. He's an odd soul." Stein replied, walking over to Marie.

"Yes, Franken, but he's _my _odd soul." Naigus said, her motherly instincts well and truly in control. Stein looked down at Marie.

"Are you feeling any better?" Stein asked Marie. She managed to nod without crying and without Stein asking any further questions. He nodded back at her, placing a friendly hand on her shoulder. Marie calmed slightly at his touch.

"I trust you've taken care of her." Stein asked Naigus, a hint of worry still in his voice. Naigus sensed this and turned off her defensive maternal shield.

"Of course, Franken." Naigus nodded. Stein nodded back and walked out of the infirmary. Marie watched as Stein left the infirmary.

"You know, you two could be a bit more obvious, you know. You could just start making out in front of your class, or-" Naigus was cut off.

"What?" Marie asked, defensively.

"Well, it's obvious that this wasn't a one night thing." Naigus replied. Marie sighed.

"Well... you're half right and you're half wrong." Marie replied.

"Wait... now I'm confused." Naigus replied.

"Well... it _was _technically a one night thing. If by thing, you mean..." Marie said, looking down embarrassedly.

"Marie, you're a grown woman, for Death's sake. You can say the word 'sex.' You can certainly _have_ sex, that's for sure." Naigus replied.

"Mira!" Marie replied, defiantly.

"What? You know I'm right." Naigus said, crossing her arms and sitting back in triumph. Marie scowled slightly, before shaking her head and smiling.

"Fine. We only had... _sex_ ... once... but we're kinda, maybe, sorta, almost going out?" Marie said. Although, it wasn't explicitly true. She and Stein had a few 'encounters' after graduation, but she figured that, ten years later, they probably wouldn't apply to her pregnancy.

"Kinda, maybe, sorta, almost? Are you going out or not?" Naigus asked, sounding more like one of Marie's students than her colleague.

"I think we are... I'm not sure. It is Franken we're talking about here." Marie smiled. Mira nodded.

"I see." Naigus nodded.

"I mean, I love him, but he's so hard to read." Marie replied.

"You love him, eh?" Naigus replied, teasingly.

"No! I mean, I do, but not in that... Well, yes, in that way, but not like I... I'm allowed to blame this on being pregnant now, right?" Marie laughed, defeated by her own statement.

"Yeah, of course you are, Marie." Naigus said, pulling out two boxes of pills. She placed them in a small paper bag and labelled it with Marie's name.

"Alright, Marie. The red ones should help with dizziness, the green ones are made solely for pregnant women. They should help with morning sickness, alright?" Naigus said, handing Marie the paper bag.

"Uh huh..." Marie said, still in shock.

"When you need more, bring the prescription to me, I'll go and refill them." Naigus said.

"A-Alright. T-Thankyou, Mira. I guess." Marie said, dropping her head.

"Marie, look at me." Naigus said. Marie looked up, her visible eye once again welling up with tears.

"What is it, Mira?" she sniffed.

"You have to tell him. You owe it to him." Naigus said.

"I-" Marie stumbled.

"Marie. Baby. Silver hair. Obvious. You aren't going to get through this by yourself." Naigus said.

"I promise I'll tell him." Marie said. Naigus nodded and gave Marie a quick hug.

"You'll be alright, Marie." Naigus said, still sensing worry in Marie.

"That's the thing, Mira. I'm not sure I will be alright." Marie said, before she let the tears spill over, clutching her hands to her face. Naigus ran over to her.

"Hey, hey, Marie, you can't do this to me." Naigus said. Marie looked at her.

"Why not?" Marie sobbed.

"Because you're supposed to still have your hormones in check. You're only a month and a half pregnant." Naigus said, rubbing circles into Marie's back.

"I'm sorry..." Marie said, turning to Naigus.

"No, you don't have to be sorry. I'm just worried that you aren't going to have yourself composed for when you have to go home with Franken." Naigus said. Marie looked at her with worry. She wiped her tears away and straightened her top.

"Right." Marie said, collectedly.

"Right?" Naigus asked.

"He cannot know." Marie said to herself. Or so she thought.

"_Yet._" Naigus replied, sharply pronouncing the syllable.

"That's what I was going to say next." Marie said.

"Mmhm, I'm sure you were. Naigus said, walking Marie over to the door.

"I was, I swear!" Marie replied, walking out the door and down the hallway.

"Marie, one more thing?" Naigus said before Marie was out of earshot.

"Yes, Mira?" Marie asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"_Silver hair._" Naigus mouthed, silently.

"Alright, I'll tell him!" Marie replied, flustered. Naigus nodded at her and went back into the infirmary. Marie took a deep breath, and walked down the hallway. A constant thought continued to run through her head.

"_How on Earth do I tell him?_"

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><p><strong>AN: So, there we go, Chapter 4. I know that not a lot happened, but I really wanted another chapter with Naigus in it XD So, onwards to the next chapter we go!**


	5. Facing My Fears

**A/N: You're still here! HUZZAH! So, this chapter is dedicated to everyone in the world. I apologise, this chapter won't seem very useful (or very in character) now, but it will be later in the story. I promise.**

**And, thankyou for all of your kind reviews!**

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><p>Naigus was a miracle worker. Just 3 days after Marie had been prescribed the medicine for her symptoms, they had been virtually alleviated. However, in doing so, she had discovered the cause of the symptoms.<p>

She was quite irrevocably pregnant. And she had her best friend to thank for it.

Marie was sitting at her desk, watching Class Crescent Moon copy out notes from their textbooks. She tried not to give anything away about her pregnancy, but everything she did was based around whether or not it was going to hurt the developing life inside of her.

"Alright, class... class?" Marie said, seeing that Black*Star was trying to impress everyone in the class by balancing himself on two chairs which he had stacked on the desk in front of him. He balanced precariously one a single finger, much to Tsubaki and Marie's dismay.

"_Yahoo_! I, Black*Star, surpasser of God, would be able to balance on here forever!" he said, his face slowly turning red. Marie, becoming slightly agitated, stood up and glared at him.

"I'd like to see how long you'd be able to balance if I got Sid-sensei in here. Or, maybe Naigus-sensei? I heard she has baby photos, which perhaps paint you in a less than godlike manner?" Marie said, smirking at Black*Star. His face, now bright red, turned from an arrogant glare to a worried look. He quickly righted himself and sat down.

"Thank you, Black*Star." Marie said, sitting back down and sighing.

"Okay, class, as soon as you finish copying chapter three's notes, you may leave." Marie said. She sat at the desk, leaning her hands lightly on her stomach, watching as the class slowly finished their notes and filed out for the day. She noticed that Maka and Tsubaki, students who usually finish their notes before everyone else, were still sitting and copying. Marie stood up and walked up the stairs to the two students.

"Are you two still copying notes?" Marie asked. Maka and Tsubaki glanced at each other, smiling widely.

"We've finished, Marie-sensei." Tsubaki said. Marie went to speak, but was beaten to it by Maka.

"Marie-sensei, we want to ask you a question." Maka said. Tsubaki frowned.

"_You_ wanted to ask Marie-sensei a question." Tsubaki said.

"What is it, girls?" Marie asked, pulling up a seat next to them.

"Well..." Maka said.

"Maka, come on. This is stupid." Tsubaki said, trying to pull at Maka's sleeve.

"You can go, if you want, Tsubaki." Maka said. Tsubaki frowned once again and sat down. She didn't want to ask Marie the question, but she also couldn't abandon Maka.

"What's happening, girls?" Marie asked, confusedly.

"Well, Marie-sensei, we were wondering..." Tsubaki began.

"You know how you passed out the other day in class?" Maka asked. Marie nodded.

"And you said that you were feeling dizzy..." Tsubaki said.

"And you were holding your stomach all lesson..." Maka added, as Marie took her hands away from their resting place.

"And you went to the bathroom about 4 times this lesson..." Tsubaki said, nervously.

"Girls, it's okay. You can say it." Marie said, realising what they were getting at. She remembered back when she was a teenage girl. She could always detect these things from a mile away. Soul perception had nothing to do with it.

"Marie-sensei... are you...?" Maka and Tsubaki smiled at Marie expectantly.

"...You got me." Marie smiled at them. Maka and Tsubaki smiled widely and both spontaneously hugged Marie.

"Really?" Maka asked.

"Really."Marie smiled.

"That's excellent, Marie-sensei!" Tsubaki smiled broadly.

"Yes, it is." Marie said, unenthusiastically. Just as they began to talk again, Stein walked in the classroom.

"So, Marie-sensei, when are you-" Maka began, as Marie began to shake her head violently. Maka's eyes widened.

"You still here, girls?" Stein asked.

"Oh, yes, Doctor Stein, we were just asking Marie-sensei a question." Maka said. Stein just nodded before leaving the classroom. Marie tried to avoid the question by walking quickly down the stairs.

"Oh, haven't you told Doctor Stein yet, Marie-sensei?" Maka asked, inquisitively.

"Well, I can't tell him, can I?" Marie said, before realising what the words she had just spoken actually meant.

"W-Why can't you tell Doctor Stein? Don't you live together?" Maka asked, still puzzled at Marie's unwillingness to tell the man, her best friend, about her wonderful news.

"I just can't tell him at the moment, Maka." Marie said, calmly. Tsubaki's eyes widened in realisation.

"I don't see why you couldn't tell him." Maka continued.

"Maka, come on, your question was answered." Tsubaki said. She was older then Maka, and knew exactly why Marie couldn't tell Stein.

"But, Tsubaki, I just want to…" Maka said. Tsubaki grabbed her wrist and proceeded to walk out of the classroom with her. Maka was more naïve than Tsubaki thought.

"Tsubaki!" Maka complained.

"Maka, we have to go. Good luck, Marie-sensei." Tsubaki replied, pulling a quite angry Maka along with her.

"_That was odd._" Marie thought to herself. She sat sack in her chair and closed her eyes. Thoughts rushed through her head, but she kept coming back to one.

All Marie had ever wanted was to get married and retire, presumably to start a family. The plan _wasn't_ to have sex with her best friend and have_ this_ happen. But it had happened. Marie was stuck with it.

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><p>Marie was heading down the corridors to the faculty room, when she was stopped by Shinigami-sama.<p>

"Ah, Marie!" he said, enthusiastically.

"Shinigami-sama." Marie said, looking at him.

"Congratulations!" he said to the Deathscythe.

"W-What?" Marie asked.

"I know about your…situation." Shinigami-sama said. Marie looked down, clasping her hands.

"Oh... of course you do." Marie said. Shinigami-sama placed one of his garish hands on Marie's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody. Though, with such a strong soul response, I wouldn't be surprised if meisters like Sid-kun and Stein-kun would be able to tell soon. Though...I suppose you should probably tell Stein-kun before he's able to tell you." Shinigami-sama said. Marie's eye widened.

"Wh-What?" Marie said, once again.

"Your baby's soul. It already bears a marked resemblance to Stein-kun's. Plus, it would explain the strength of the soul response. But, like I said, I won't tell anyone." Shinigami-sama said. Marie calmed slightly. If there was anyone that had to keep her secret, it was good that it was the supreme leader of all that was Death City. Shinigami-sama looked at her.

"Good luck!" He waved, his voice flamboyant, as he gallivanted down the hallways. Marie sighed slightly. Shinigami-sama seemed like he knew for a little while, and he said that the soul response was wrong. Stein was finding out soon, one way or the other. Marie decided to head down the other way to the faculty room, where she met, for the third time in a week, Naigus.

"How are you feeling, Marie?" Naigus asked, sitting down on the couch in the faculty room with a cup of coffee.

"Much better, now. Thank you, Mira." Marie nodded, taking a glass and filling it with water.

"Giving up coffee? That's rather dedicated." Naigus said.

"But it's good for the baby." Marie said, quietly, becoming rather protective of her little accident.

"It is. But I don't know how I could give up coffee." Naigus said.

"How exactly do you drink coffee, you know, with all of your bandages?" Marie asked. Naigus pulled a straw out, placed it in her coffee cup, parted her bandages slightly and placed the straw in between her lips.

"Ah. I see." Marie nodded, taking a sip of her water. Naigus pulled the straw out from her mouth.

"So, have you told him yet?" Naigus asked. Marie nearly choked on her water.

"Marie!" Naigus said, exasperatedly.

"I haven't had time!" Marie complained.

"You live with him, Marie. How long have you known for?" Naigus asked, glaring at her.

"I... I will tell him. I'll tell him tonight, even." Marie said, worriedly.

"Alright. But if he doesn't know tomorrow... well, put it this way. If you don't tell him, I might just accidentally leave your blood test results open on the infirmary computer. Plus, he'll now soon enough, anyway." Naigus said to the woman next to her. Marie looked into her water.

"Shinigami-sama could tell." Marie said. Naigus chuckled.

"Marie, Shinigami-sama could have told you were... _pregnant_... the day after you did the deed. Trust me." Naigus said, getting up and walking over to the cupboard.

"Mira, where are you- Stein!" Marie said, her face becoming brighter.

"Are you ready to go home, Marie?" Stein asked, leaning on the back of his chair. Marie snapped quickly back to "Avoid-telling-Stein-about-the-whole-baby-thing" mode and smiled at the silver haired meister.

"Yes, of course. Goodbye, Mira." Marie waved before walking off after Stein.

"Oh, Franken?" Naigus asked. Stein turned around to face her.

"Yes, Mira?" Stein asked back.

"Marie has something she has to tell you." Naigus said, before turning away. Marie's face turned to pure horror.

"Marie, what is it?" Stein asked. Marie stumbled and stuttered several times before getting out a whole sentence.

"I-I'll tell you later. It's not important at the moment." Marie said, trying to keep a straight face. Stein, though not completely convinced, replied to her.

"Alright."

"Good." Marie said, turning and following Stein down the corridor, thinking one thing only.

"_Thanks, Mira. Thanks a bunch._"

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><p><strong>AN: I'm sorry that the chapter might have seemed a bit weird. But I promise it'll all make sense later. And, I got some more Naigus in there. She's awesome. So, next chapter will be less craptastic! I promise guys. I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, but I needed it x**


	6. It All Unfolds

**A/N: Here we are, chapter 6. This chapter should be good, because I know exactly how it's gonna go :) Oh, this is a bit fluffy. You've been warned. And this is one of those chapters where Stein may seem slightly OOC, but he kinda needs to be. This chapter is dedicated to all the fluff lovers out there :D it always makes me feel better, even if it is a bit sickly sweet. Wish me luck!**

**And, once again, thankyou to all the gorgeous reviews!**

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><p>After what can only be described as a rather awkward trip home, Marie and Stein walked into the familiar, stitch-laden building. Marie kicked off her shoes and laid herself down on the couch. No matter how many pills Naigus prescribed her, she couldn't cure the exhaustion.<p>

"Coffee, Marie?" Stein asked, placing the small kettle he owned over a stand on top of a Bunsen burner.

"Oh, no, none for me." Marie said, remembering her vow to stop drinking the delicious, hot caffeinated beverage. After all, once she told Stein about her condition, she'd have to try and convince him to quit smoking around her, something which would be a Goliath task.

"Okay." Stein replied. He finished brewing the coffee and sat down on the couch across from Marie. He heard her sighing loudly.

"Bad day?" Stein asked, cranking his screw backwards until it clicked.

"You could say that." Marie said, yawning slightly.

"Black*Star?" Stein replied, knowingly. The kid had potential, but he was rather annoying.

"Black*Star. I don't know how Mira and Sid could have coped with him. I can barely last a lesson with him. He has so much energy, which is great, but... he has no off switch." Marie said, not her usual, perky self.

"I know what you mean. The kid's got obvious talent and potential, I'd just prefer it if he utilised it in a quieter manner. " Stein rolled his eyes. Marie giggled slightly.

"Yeah." She sighed, smiling.

"So, what were you talking about with Maka and Tsubaki after class today?" Stein asked.

"Oh, nothing much. Just girl things." Marie said, half telling the truth. She knew Stein would stay away from that subject, whether he knew she was hiding the truth or not. Most self-respecting males would.

"Okay." Stein said, the conversation becoming slightly awkward, causing Marie to giggle a little. Usually it was Stein that rendered her speechless.

"What are you laughing at?" Stein asked, smirking slightly. Marie simply shook her head.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all, really." Marie replied, sitting up slowly.

She stood from the couch and made her way to the small bathroom off the side of Stein's bedroom. On the floor, she saw a small droplet of blood which she couldn't get up after Stein punched, what he thought, was a personification of himself as Kishin.

She sighed slightly, half in sadness and half in relief. She was upset that the memories of that difficult time in Stein's life were flooding back to her, but she was glad he was past it.

She looked up at the now replaced mirror, where she had written the same thing she had said to Stein when she gave him the Wavelength of Redemption.

"You're always going to be yourself." Marie read, slightly upsetting herself. She had been almost the exact opposite of herself the past week, lying to and avoiding Stein. She ran the water, cupped her hands and splashed the water over her face.

"_If you don't do it, Mira will._" Marie thought to herself. She dried her face off and walked out of the bathroom, ready to tell Stein.

"So, Marie, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Stein asked, lighting a cigarette. Marie's eyes widened as she backed away from the cigarette smoke, trying to breathe as little as possible. She had also lost every intention of telling Stein as soon as she had seen his face.

"Do you have to do that inside?" Marie asked, her voice faint.

"You've not had a problem with it before." Stein said, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth.

"W-Well, Naigus said that I have a-a... respiratory problem. Yeah, a respiratory problem." Marie lied. Stein cocked an eyebrow.

"Really? Because Naigus said that she diagnosed you with anaemia. She said that explained all of the symptoms." Stein asked. Marie looked shocked.

"That's... not a respiratory problem?" Marie lied.

"Come on, Marie. You know that's not a respiratory problem." Stein laughed slightly, mistaking Marie's lies for sarcasm. Marie's reputation for being a generally truthful person came in handy when she had to lie.

"Oh. Yeah." Marie giggled nervously.

"What did Doctor Nakamura and Naigus prescribe you, exactly?" Stein asked.

"Oh, they prescribed me these red pills and these..." Marie stopped as she remembered what Naigus had told her about the medication.

"... _the green ones are made solely for pregnant women. They should help with morning sickness, alright?_" Naigus' voice rang out in Marie's head. She began to fret.

"And?" Stein asked, butting out his cigarette.

"And.. these other ones, which I'm not sure about." Marie said, quickly.

"_Why in Death's name did I say that? Now he's going to check them! Marie! Think!_" Marie thought to herself. It was never good when she began to fight with her own subconscious. Trying to keep a level head, she waited to see what Stein was going to say next.

"Well, I can work out what they are for you. Just let me see the prescription." Stein said. Marie automatically went on the defensive.

"_No_! I mean, I don't know where my prescriptions are." Marie lied. Stein looked puzzled.

"Aren't they just there?" Stein asked, pointing to a table which was of equal distance from both Stein and Marie. Marie's eyes widened as she dived for the prescription, nearly falling over in the process. Stein, however, made it over to the table in what seemed to be one swift movement, catching Marie as well.

"Really? You can manoeuvre your way around battle but you can't navigate my living room?" Stein asked, jokingly. Marie's face turned to shock.

"Stein, you can't read that!" Marie said, desperately.

"Why not?" Stein asked.

"Because... Because I said so." Marie said, putting her hands on her hips and adopting an aggressive stance.

"Marie, I'm sorry... you aren't threatening." Stein said, smirking slightly. Marie's face dropped as Stein began to read the prescription. Naigus said he'd be able to decode it easily. Her arms fell to her side and she fell onto the couch. Her head fell into her hands.

"Hmm... yes, blood pressure... illness... wha-?" Stein said, his face turning both confused and shocked. After a few seconds of deathly silence, Marie sighed.

"Just say it, Stein." Marie said.

"This pill... it's only prescribed to patients who are... Marie, are you..." Stein began. His hands dropped to his sides in shock. Marie looked up at him, angrier that he'd ever seen her.

"Yes, of _course_ that's what it means! What else would it mean? And it's all because of _you_! I'm pregnant, because of you! You're the doctor, aren't you? Work it out!" Marie screamed at him, making him rethink his stance on her not being threatening.

She stood up and turned away. As she began to storm off to the room that Stein had allocated to her, he put his hand on her shoulder. Marie turned around, still fuming.

"_Don't_ touch me." Marie snarled. She walked off to her room, locked the door and began to sob, curling up into a little ball on her bed. Stein's expression was completely blank. He gormlessly sat down on his desk chair and dropped his head into his hands.

"_Marie._" He said, quietly.

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><p>A good half an hour passed. In the room across from Stein, Marie was still sobbing, half because of what she had just revealed, half because of how she had just treated her best friend.<p>

"It's not his fault." Marie continued to say over and over again, mumbling inanely to herself. The tears rolled from her eyes and slightly stained the pillow which held her head. Just outside her door, Stein was now standing, leaning his head against the wall.

"_It's not her fault._" Stein thought to himself as he tried to gather his thoughts and work out what to do. Eventually, thinking became irrelevant and Stein opened the door to a curled up, shivering Marie. She looked up at him, her eyes wide with fear.

"I... I'm sorry." Marie said, sniffling. Stein just shook his head, still standing at the door.

"No. You don't have to be sorry." Stein said, his face solemn. After a minute of silence, Marie spoke up again.

"I... I'm just so scared, Franken." Marie said, choking back tears.

"What makes you think I'm not?" Stein replied, walking over to Marie. She curled up once again, laying her head on the pillow. Stein removed his lab coat and draped it over the trembling Marie. He placed himself down next to her, deftly snaking his arms around her waist, pulling her in close to him.

"You'll be okay. We'll be okay." Stein said, almost inaudibly, to Marie as the stress and shock caused her to fall asleep. As he heard her breathing become slower and deeper, he knew that she was asleep. He removed his glasses and placed them on the side table. He felt a disgustingly familiar feeling rise up in him. A feeling that nobody had, would or ever will see of Doctor Franken Stein.

He removed one of his hands from around Marie's waist and furiously wiped away the rare droplet of liquid which had somehow leaked from his eye.

"I don't cry." Stein said to himself, as if he was punishing and reminding his nervous system of the fact. He once again pulled Marie close and closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would be enough for his body to learn its lesson and never show that damned emotion ever again.

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><p><strong>AN: He cried! OH MY GOD. NO WAY. The whole emotion thing was the main bit which was supposed to be slightly odd and out of character. Hopefully I countered it with his reaction to said emotion. But, hell, we don't actually know whether or not it's out of character because his character has never been put in this sort of situation. Is my pedantic nature coming through yet? :D Alright, onwards we go. How will Marie deal? How will Stein deal? Is Spirit any good at giving advice? Will we ever know how Stein managed to move to place his glasses on the side table and talk to himself all without waking Marie? All but the answer to the last question will be revealed in the next few chapters!**


	7. Making It Worse

**A/N: Chapter 7. Wow. This chapter is dedicated to all of my fellow Oceanians who have the wonderful Marie Mjolnir as our Deathscythe :D On with the circus, my dearies!**

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><p>The next couple of weeks were rather monotonous for both Stein and Marie. Both of them were still reeling from the news. Marie was pregnant. There's no coming back from that one. Stein had never contemplated what it would be like to be a father. He never contemplated anything like this. His auto-pilot existence in the past days must have been obvious, as Spirit came to talk to Stein. Now, Spirit was many things, but he wasn't very perceptive when it came to other people, something often demonstrated in his slightly misguided attempts at getting his daughter's affection.<p>

"What's wrong with you?" Spirit asked, rolling his eyes, leaning against one of the walls in the faculty room. Stein really didn't want to tell him. Stein was in two minds about Marie's situation. One of them was worrying about whether or not he could actually take care of Marie. The other was whether or not he could keep himself from hurting the baby.

"Nothing that you have to know about." Stein replied, distantly, sitting backwards on his chair and leaning his head on his hands.

"So that's why you've been moping around more than usual these past couple of days? Because it's nothing anyone needs to know about?" Spirit asked, a slight snide tone lacing his voice.

"I didn't say nobody needed to know about it. I said _you_ didn't need to know about it." Stein replied, smirking slightly. Spirit growled angrily.

"It's not _you_ that has to suffer through your cynicism, Stein. It's the rest of us." Spirit replied. Stein simply rolled his eyes and took out a cigarette, struck a match and lit it.

"I don't think I can tell you." Stein replied, blowing out smoke.

"Come on, Stein. I can see past your defences." Spirit said. Stein rolled his eyes and sighed.

"If I tell you, will you shut up?" Stein asked, reluctantly.

"I can't promise that." Spirit said.

"In that case, forget it." Stein said, turning away from Spirit.

"Wait! Wait... maybe I can promise that." Spirit said, trying to quench his thirst for the confidential knowledge.

"Really?" Stein asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You have the word of a Deathscythe." Spirit said. Stein nodded as the chimes sounded for the last lesson before lunch.

"Meet me in my office at the beginning of the students' lunch." Stein said, rolling backwards out the faculty room.

"Stein, the-!" Spirit began, but it was too late for Stein who had already fallen in the doorway. He sat up, shook his head, turned his screw until it clicked and proceeded to sit back on his chair.

"Lunch. My office." Stein said, solemnly.

"If you're trying to misdirect my attention from you falling off your chair, you're not doing a very good job." Spirit smirked. Stein glowered at him.

"Shut up." Stein said.

"Nope." Spirit retorted.

"My office at lunch." Stein said. Spirit's face turned sour.

"That's the _third_ time you've told me." Spirit said, but Stein was out of earshot. Spirit rolled his eyes as he walked in the other direction out of the faculty room.

After a long, arduous lesson, mainly because of the overly rambunctious Black*Star, Stein rolled his way into his office. He was met with the expectant face of Spirit, who wanted nothing more than to know what he wasn't really allowed to.

"So, what's bothering you?" Spirit asked Stein.

"You know, I find it confusing that, considering your usual attempts to avoid me, you are so intently interested in my problem." Stein said, holding his cigarette between his thumb and forefinger. Spirit frowned angrily.

"Just tell me why you're moping." Spirit snapped. Stein looked at him, and spoke calmly whilst placing his cigarette in his mouth.

"It's about Marie." Stein said, making sure the office door was locked.

"Ah. I see. Why didn't you come to me earlier, Stein?" Spirit said, placing his hands on his hips triumphantly.

"Uh, Spirit, I think you're getting the wrong end of the-"

"You're finally having woman troubles, eh? I was worried when you didn't really have them while we were at the Academy. Well, I, Spirit Albarn, will teach you the ways of the mysterious creatures we call women." Spirit said. Stein looked at him, perplexedly.

"Uh... no. Not exactly. And even if it was woman troubles, why would I come to the man who got married and had a baby at eighteen, and then got divorced because he was unfaithful?" Stein said back. He could see Spirit's eyes become angry and start to slightly fill with tears.

"Sorry, sorry, Spirit. That was uncalled for." Stein explained.

"You think?" Spirit said, his face still infuriated.

"It's not woman troubles in the sense that you think, Spirit." Stein said to the slightly calmer Spirit.

"What sort of woman troubles, then?" Spirit asked. After a moment of silence, Stein blew smoke out of his mouth and told Spirit the news.

"You can't tell anyone, alright?" Stein asked. Spirit nodded.

"It's Marie... she's... expecting." Stein managed to blurt out.

"Expecting? Expecting what?" Spirit asked. Stein looked at him like he was an idiot. A warranted thought, most would say.

"Marie's pregnant, Spirit." Stein said, shaking his head in disbelief. Spirit's face was riddled with astonishment.

"Really? Well, that's great for her. That means she can retire, no?" Spirit asked.

"Well, yes, but-"

"She'll be a good mother. Wait, you two live together, don't you? Ah, that must have been weird! Marie and her boyfriend making babies in _your_ house... Who's the father?" Spirit asked.

"It's... It's me, Spirit." Stein stuttered out. Spirit's face turned from slightly astonished to complete shock. He then began to laugh. And it was not just a slight chuckle to himself. Spirit was roaring with laughter, having to take short, sharp breaths in between to prevent himself from passing out. Spirit managed to choke some words out in between laughter.

"Oh, Stein! I never had you down as much of a jokester." Spirit said, trying to contain his laughter.

"But I'm not joking, Spirit." Stein said. Spirit simply continued to laugh.

"Spirit, if you don't stop laughing, I'll tell Azusa who _really_ used up all the coffee in the faculty room when the Deathscythes arrived." Stein said, sternly. Spirit stopped his laughing at once, his expression deadpanning.

"Oh my... You're serious." Spirit said.

"Of course I'm serious." Stein replied, running his fingers through his hair.

"Well... are you sure you're the father? Because, I mean, I never really had you pegged as..." Spirit was cut off by a solemn spoken Stein.

"Look, Spirit. I know it's hard to believe, but Marie actually likes me. Hell, I don't believe it either." Stein said, glancing at Spirit. Spirit restrained himself from saying anything nasty.

"Wh…No." Spirit said, entering the denial stage of the conversation.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you." Stein said, beginning to roll his chair out of the classroom. Spirit put his hand on the back of Stein's chair, jerking him forwards onto the floor. Stein stood up abruptly and glared at Spirit, who was flashing a cocky smile.

"You are so full of yourself." Stein said, cranking his screw backwards twice.

"I can live with that." Spirit replied. Stein rolled his eyes and began to walk out the office.

"Hey. Stein?" Spirit said. Stein turned, albeit reluctantly, and listened to what Spirit had to say.

"Do you remember when Kami was pregnant with Maka?" Spirit asked. Stein sighed.

"How could I forget? You spent three months in denial, then three months talking about nothing but the pregnancy, then you spent the rest of the time freaking out that the baby was going to, and I quote, 'be all weird and stuff.' And _I_ was the stupid one for suggesting that you maybe shouldn't have had a baby at eighteen." Stein said. Although, from Spirit's vacant look, it seemed that Stein had lost him halfway through his speech.

"Wait... what?" Spirit asked, confused.

"Forget it." Stein said, rolling his eyes and swiftly walking out of the office. Talking to Spirit had made him even more confused than before.

**A/N: Sorry that chapter is short But I found it a little difficult (but really fun, don't get me wrong) to write a lot of this, seeing as there's another chapter of Stein and Spirit dialogue coming up later, so I didn't want to delve too much into the subject I'm going to use in that chapter. Hopefully it wasn't too bad! **


	8. That Obvious, Already?

**A/N: So, this chapter is dedicated to the Soul Eater fans who are pretty sure that the list of the pairings they ship in SE is longer than the list of pairings they don't ship. On with the circus!**

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><p>Marie sat across from her female friend, nursing a glass of water. They were at a cafe on the trendy outskirts of Death City. The short-haired prodigal woman was nursing a small cup of black coffee.<p>

"Yumi, I brought you here for a reason." Marie said.

"Oh, I know." Azusa said, sipping the cup of coffee.

"Wait, what?" Marie asked.

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" Azusa asked.

"Huh?" Marie exclaimed.

"Well, Marie, you aren't drinking coffee, your blouse is tighter than usual, and you keep leaning your hands on your stomach. It doesn't take a genius to work that out." Azusa said. Marie looked up at her.

"Is it really that easy to tell?" Marie asked.

"I'm afraid so, Marie. So, why did you want to invite me out to tell me? You could have called me up about it, or emailed me." Azusa said.

"Well I could've..." Marie said, quietly.

"Well, have you let Shinigami-sama know so that you can be relieved of your duties as Deathscythe of Oceania?" Azusa asked.

"He knew himself. He'll work something out for me." Marie sighed, looking down wistfully into her glass of water.

"What is it, Marie?" Azusa said, taking a long sip of her coffee. Marie stuttered for a while. She began to speak as Azusa took another mouthful of coffee.

"I slept with Stein." Marie said. Azusa choked on her coffee.

"Wh-What? Are you serious, Marie?" Azusa asked. However, as smart as Azusa was, what Marie had just said hadn't quite clicked with her current condition.

"Yes, but I didn't mean to, I just-" Marie said, but was cut off by Azusa's pupils dilating even further.

"What is it?" Marie asked.

"Is that... Oh, for Death's sake, Marie! That's... It's his, isn't it?" Azusa said, pointing to Marie's stomach.

"Shh! Can you keep it down?" Marie asked. Azusa leant in, the light bouncing off her glasses.

"Marie, are you going to be okay?" Azusa asked.

"I'm not sure. But... can we talk about something else?" Marie asked. Azusa simply nodded and sat back in her chair. After a minute of silence, Azusa spoke up.

"So... how was the infamous Dr Stein?" she asked, smirking slightly. Marie's eyes widened.

"Yumi!" Marie exclaimed, smiling into her glass of water.

"Judging by that smile, I'd say not bad." Azusa said.

"Yumi! You can't judge that by my facial expressions." Marie replied.

"I can, Marie." Azusa smiled.

"What about you? Any men on the horizon?" Marie asked.

"I might have met a couple of men on assignment." Azusa smirked.

"Any that you _didn't_ scare off?" Marie asked.

"Hey! Unless you want me to start talking about your little affliction thanks to Stein then I suggest you stop that." Azusa smirked.

"Sorry. I'm just saying, sometimes you make men..." Marie started

"So, who initiated it, was it you or him?" Azusa said, louder than before.

"Yumi!" Marie said, frowning.

"I told you to stop talking about it, so, come on. Spill." Azusa said.

"Spill? Yumi, I know you're a little younger than me, but that kind of terminology... really?" Marie smirked.

"Oh, sorry. Marie, can you please relay the happenings of the night you engaged in a sexual liaison with Doctor Stein?" Azusa replied. Marie smirked.

"That's more like you." Marie said.

"So... how was it?" Azusa asked. Marie ran her finger around the rim of the glass of water before placing it down on the table.

"Honestly," Marie said, smirking slightly, "It was... pretty good. Just like alw-" Marie gasped, her hands over her mouth. Azusa's eyes widened.

"Well, well, well. How long have you and Stein been...?" Azusa said, turning her head so the light in the cafe bounced off her glasses.

"No, it's... it's not like that."

"Oh, I think it's exactly like that." Azusa smirked.

"No... the incident that caused my current...state...was the first in a very, very long time." Marie said, quietly, trying to shake off her inhibitions in order for her not to seem cold to her friend.

"And how long is a very, very long time?" Azusa asked. Marie sighed.

"We first got together the night of our last end of year dance at Shibusen. The last time we got together... before this... was about two years after that. Past that point, I left to be the Deathscythe of Oceania, and Stein went off to finish his doctorate..." Marie said, once again looking down into her glass of water, perhaps for an answer. Azusa looked at her friend, sympathetically.

"Marie, you know I've never liked Stein." Azusa said, matter-of-factly. Marie rolled her eyes.

"You know, that's not really a good thing to say to a hormonal woman who is carrying said man's child." Marie said, sitting back slightly.

"Let me finish. I've never liked him, but it's obvious that you do. So I... I'll support you." Azusa said. Marie's facial expression softened.

"Thank you, Yumi." Marie said.

"I just wish he was more of a stickler for the rules." Azusa said.

"Yumi!" Marie said.

"Sorry, sorry. My apologies." Azusa said.

"I'll forgive you this time." Marie said.

"About our earlier topic... you aren't allowed to just say it was 'pretty good.' Don't leave me hanging, Marie." Azusa said, as both she and Marie reverted to their teenage selves.

"Well..." Marie bit her lip, "he does this thing where he..."

"Spirit?" Azusa said, sitting up straight. Marie did the same.

"Ah, Spirit-kun, what are you doing here?" Marie said, sweetly.

"Never mind me. What on Earth were you two talking about?" Spirit asked. Without a shadow of self-consciousness, Azusa replied in a deadpan tone.

"Sex. Why?" Azusa asked. Spirit's eyes widened.

"Oh... uh... Marie, can I talk to you?" Spirit asked. Marie nodded and walked outside the cafe with Spirit.

"What's up, Spirit?" Marie asked.

"Well... Stein told me about your... situation." Marie's eyes widened.

"Really? Oh, Stein..." Marie said, chuckling slightly.

"Yeah, see, that's the thing. He seemed odd yesterday. More odd than usual." Spirit said.

"R-Really?" Marie asked, worriedly.

"He seemed like he wanted to talk to you about something." Spirit said, taking an unusual interest in Marie's affairs.

"Wh-what makes you say that?" Marie asked.

"I may not be very... fond... of Stein, but I know him. I had to spend a good chunk of my life with him swinging me around like there's no tomorrow." Spirit said.

"O-Okay." Marie said.

"I'm not sure how he's going to go about it, but stay aware. He wasn't prepared for this. He didn't think he'd _ever_ have to prepare for this." Spirit said, looking down at Marie's stomach.

"I wasn't prepared either, but I get the sentiment." Marie replied.

"I know... just be careful, alright, Marie?" Spirit asked.

"I will be, Spirit-kun. Thank you." Marie said, hugging Spirit. Spirit pat Marie on the back and let her go.

"Stein, you better take care of her." Spirit said to himself. Marie was one of the few women who he actually cared about; other than Maka and Kami. Well, women that he cared about and wasn't just in it for getting into their pants. Marie walked back to Azusa.

"What did he want?" Azusa asked.

"Oh, he had a conversation with Stein the other day... he said he was acting weirdly." Marie said.

"He always acts weirdly. That's just who he is." Azusa replied. Marie glared at her, raising a fist.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I forget you're The Pulveriser sometimes." Azusa replied. She dropped her fist and simply smiled at her second best friend in the world.


	9. There's No Way

**A/N: So, this chapter has been planned from the start. I hope it turns out okay :P this chapter is dedicated to all of my friends that watch or don't watch Soul Eater, because, hey, we haven't gotten around to running them down the path of enlightenment.**

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><p>Marie stood in front of the mirror in Stein's bathroom, tugging at her blouse which grew ever tighter.<p>

"_I wonder how long I can keep this from the students…_"Marie thought to herself, turning to her side and pulling her blouse over her slightly expanding bump, looking at it in the mirror. She thought that was something that people did in movies. However, it was an intriguing thing to do, especially for a soon-to-be mother who was protecting said bump for nine months of her life.

"_I should probably ask Stein how he's dealing with all this. We've barely spoken since I told him._" Marie thought, pulling her blouse back over her bump.

"Oh my…" Marie said, noticing not only how her blouse had tightened around her bump, but around her chest, as well.

She gave up and went to the set of drawers in her room. She pulled out an old, black t-shirt and a pair of tracksuit pants. She pulled them on, tried to make herself look respectable and went out into the central room in Stein's house.

She went out into the empty room and decided to lie down on the couch. Her feet were aching, even though she had changed from her trademark white high-heeled boots to flats as soon as she found out she was pregnant.

As she placed her head down on the pillow, she felt her eyelids getting heavy. She turned herself over, snuggling up to the back of the couch, and closed her eyes, falling asleep within seconds. Stein walked in soon after, his mind racing. He had to tell Marie his worries. He had a lot of them.

"Marie?" Stein said, not noticing her asleep on the couch. She turned, opening her uncovered eye and yawning.

"Did I wake you?" Stein said, distantly.

"Oh, it doesn't matter." Marie replied, sleepily. She noticed something in his voice that made her ask the next question.

"What's wrong, Stein?" Marie asked, sitting up and scratching her head. Stein proceeded to ignore her.

"Stein?" Marie asked. Stein slowly turned to her.

"Yes?" Stein replied.

"Are you alright?" Marie asked, sympathetically. Stein couldn't face telling her what he felt at the moment. He decided to try and lighten the mood.

"Have I ever been alright?" Stein smirked. Stein mentally thwacked himself in the forehead at that comment. He needed to tell her. He was getting really sick of this whole caring thing.

"You're alright, Stein." Marie smiled, pulling her knees up to her chest; or as far as she could with her bump.

"I highly doubt that." Stein said, walking off behind Marie to the bathroom. He shut the door and locked it, slamming his head against the door it as it clicked shut, so Marie couldn't hear.

"_Man up, Stein._" He said to himself, smacking his palm against his forehead. He leant himself up against the sink and stared at himself in the mirror. He read what Marie had written on the bottom of the mirror.

"You're always going to be yourself. I'm no different." Stein said to himself. He had always been defined as the insane one. The one who wasn't quite all there. The one that nobody liked. He unlocked the bathroom door and walked out. His face was a lot less positive than before.

"Stein, what's the matter?" Marie asked. After stumbling slightly, Stein opened his mouth.

"Marie, I don't think I can take care of you." Stein blurted out. That statement in itself made Stein think that he hadn't though this through as well as he would have liked.

"What?" Marie said, turning around to look at him.

"Marie, how can I do it? I am not right for this. This... this doesn't fit. I can't..." Stein said, facing away from Marie. She grit her teeth. They didn't call her 'The Pulveriser' for nothing.

"Franken Stein, you look at me when you tell me this!" Marie said, angrily. Stein turned to her.

"I don't think I can take care of you or the baby. Marie, my first instincts are purely scientific." Stein said, calmly. Marie, however, was not calm.

"Well, look past your first instincts! This is just as much yours as it is mine." Marie said, looking down at her bump.

"I didn't plan all this." Stein said, exasperatedly. Marie became defensive.

"And you think I did? But we have it... we have it now, Stein! It's happened!" Marie said, hyperventilating, trying to process everything that Stein had just told her.

"Marie, I don't think I can do it. I'm just trying to help you by telling the truth." Stein said, trying to walk away from the situation.

"Well, thanks for telling me this now, Stein. You know, you could have told me _before_ we had sex, or better yet, before I ever developed feelings for you!" Marie said, walking quickly into the room where she kept her belongings and began packing them into a suitcase. Stein walked in.

"Marie, I'm trying to tell you the truth. I'm..." Stein faded out.

"Spirit told me you'd be like this." Marie muttered. Stein threw his arms up in frustration.

"Oh, so you've spoken to Spirit, eh? The absolute oracle when it comes to staying together and sound parenting." Stein said, slightly more exasperated than before.

"Don't make this my fault, Stein." Marie growled.

"Marie, don't do this, you have nowhere to go." Stein said. Marie looked up at him, tears in her eye.

"Well, I'm certainly not staying with you." Marie retorted.

"Marie, where are you going to go?" Stein asked.

"Somewhere that's not here." Marie said, zipping up her bag and pushing straight past Stein.

"Marie, I'm sorry." Stein said. For some reason, the hormones made that statement a lot more offensive to Marie than it should have. She went to slap Stein, but he sensed her movement and grabbed her wrist before she could reach. She may have been enraged, but that didn't make him her meister any less.

"Let go of me." Marie snarled.

"You were going to hit me." Stein said, releasing his grip on Marie's wrist.

"Yes. I was. But now, I'm just going to leave." Marie took her suitcase and wheeled it out the door.

"Marie, don't-!" Stein said, but it was too late. Marie, holding back tears, walked down the stairs and planned to go as far away from Stein as possible. She really didn't know many other people. She knew Azusa, but she didn't know where she lived. She didn't even know if she had accommodation in Death City.

"_Stupid Stein… can't even take care of something which is just as much __his__ as it is mine…"_Marie thought to herself. She knew she was lying to herself, Stein wasn't stupid, just afraid, like she was. However, the hormones made her thoughts fuzzy and her mind relatively blank. It was getting colder now and Marie's light covering of clothes wasn't going to keep her warm for much longer.

She glanced back at the distance she had walked. She couldn't go back to him; at least not tonight. Marie might have been wrong, but at the moment, she was too stubborn to concede defeat. She continued to walk through the streets, her eyes still bleary from tears.

She walked past an apartment and heard a faint yelling.

The voice was unmistakable.

"_Black*Star?_" Marie thought, looking up in the window of the apartment.

She knew that wasn't his and Tsubaki's apartment. Naigus and Sid may have let Black*Star have some freedoms, but he sure wasn't going to live this far away from them. She looked at the figures in the window. Sure enough, Black*Star was there, as well as the back of a familiar head.

"Maka?" Marie said. She really didn't have anywhere to go. It was getting too dark for her to go any further. She decided to cautiously knock on the door. She heard running, presumably down stairs, and the door opened.

"Marie-sensei?" Maka said, shocked. Tsubaki peeked her head around the door as well, and her smile dropped.

She wasn't as naïve as Maka. She had explained to Maka the situation with Marie and Stein, specifically the reason why she couldn't tell him about her pregnancy. If she had turned up on their doorstep with her suitcase and red eyes, something wasn't right.

"Marie-sensei, what's happened?" Tsubaki said, stepping forward as Maka stepped back.

"I.. we had a fight." Marie said, beginning to cry again. Tsubaki took Marie's suitcase and pulled it into Maka's house.

"Marie-sensei, do you need a place to stay?" Maka asked. Marie just nodded. Maka took Marie's wrist and walked her into hers and Soul's living room, sitting her down on the couch. Tsubaki brought her a glass of water. Tsubaki and Maka knew that they just had to let Marie sit.

They had to let her sit and cry.

**A/N: Alright, so I'm not a hundred percent happy with that chapter, but I don't think it's too bad. **


	10. I Feel Stupid

**A/N: Alright, so, this chapter was kind of written without a lot of direction, but it might be alright. It could also be terrible. Wish me luck! This chapter is dedicated to all the SteinxMarie shippers :D And, there's a little nod to kyonkichi's kitten in here, she'll know what it is. It has to do with a particular pairing :P And, it's fun to not ship things that Alena Rashel does :P**

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><p>Marie woke up that next morning in an unfamiliar bed. It was nearly ten in the morning on Saturday, and she was glad she didn't have to go to Shibusen in this state.<p>

She stared at the walls around her. They were a light pastel pink colour. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She looked around. She was pretty sure this had to be Maka's room. It sure wasn't 'cool' enough for Soul's room. Her eyes were still sore from all the tears she had shed the night before.

She awoke feeling very guilty.

She knew that Stein was just as confused about the baby as she was. And she knew that he wasn't in his right mind, Spirit had told her.

But she'd walked out on him anyway.

"Idiot!" Marie said to herself. She stood up out of the bed and stretched, her t-shirt rising slightly above her bump.

"Oh, geez." Marie said, looking in the mirror in Maka's room. She pulled the t-shirt down. As she opened the door, she smelt a scent coming from the kitchen. It was fish. Marie began to turn green. She was now two months pregnant, All of the soon-to-be mother's senses were becoming more responsive, and not in a good way.

"W-Who's cooking fish?" Marie asked. Maka peeked her head around the corner.

"Oh, good morning, Marie-sensei. That's just Blair. Don't mind her." Maka said. Marie retched slightly.

"I think I have to mind. B-bathroom?" Marie asked, her face still a green colour. Maka pointed to the room down the hallway and Marie proceeded to run there. She fell to her knees and threw her head over the toilet bowl. She proceeded to throw up everything she had eaten over the past twelve hours. She dry-heaved twice, before falling backwards onto her feet and starting to cry.

She sure could use a tall, handsome, silver-haired scientist to pick her up and make her feel less terrible right now. The best she was going to get was a little, sandy-blonde haired girl who really wanted to help. Maka poked her head around the bathroom door.

"Marie-sensei?" Maka said. Marie flushed the toilet and turned around, taking some toilet paper off of the roll. She wiped her eyes, then her mouth, and began to speak.

"Oh, Maka. What is it?" Marie asked standing up, going to the basin and rinsing her mouth out.

"Are-are you alright?" Maka asked. Marie spit the water in the sink, rinsed it out and looked over at Maka.

"Oh... Maka, yes, I'm alright. It's just because I'm pregnant, is all." Marie replied.

"No, I mean, after your fight with Doctor Stein." Maka replied.

"Oh..." Marie looked down.

"I'm sorry, Marie-sensei, I... I shouldn't have said anything." Maka replied, walking over to Marie and giving her a hand towel. Marie wiped the sweat and tears off her face.

"It's okay, Maka-chan. You have every right to ask me questions. I am living with you." Marie said.

"Well, it doesn't matter today. I've invited Tsubaki, Black*Star, Liz, Patti and Kid over. Soul will take Black*Star and Kid-kun to the basketball courts, and us girls will take your mind off everything. They'll be here in about fifteen minutes, okay?" Maka said. Marie smiled sweetly.

"That sounds wonderful, Maka. I'll get ready." Marie said.

"Okay, Marie-sensei." Maka said. Marie stood up and followed Maka out of the bathroom, making her way back into Maka's bedroom. She unzipped her suitcase and looked through it for something she could easily wear.

She pulled out a lemon-yellow summer dress, a pair of black tights and a black jacket. She pulled the dress on and tightened the belt over the top of her bump.

She slipped her eyepatch on, flicking her hair out from under the elastic band. She didn't put any shoes on, as her feet had swollen slightly due to her pregnancy. She sprayed herself with perfume, took a deep breath and walked out of Maka's room.

"Oh, Marie-san, I'm sorry about the fish, earlier." Blair said, in cat form.

"That's alright. You didn't know." Marie said, smiling as she pat Blair on the head. Marie looked at Soul.

"Hey, Soul-kun, I know it's probably weird to have one of your teachers living with you, especially a female one. But, I'll be out of your hair soon." Marie said.

"Are you kidding? Do you know how cool it is to have the most liked teacher at Shibusen living with me? Plus, all the boys think you're ho-" Before Soul was able to finish his sentence, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Maka beamed as she went to let in the guests. As she did, a barrage of teenagers burst through the door. Black*Star and Tsubaki knew about Marie's guest status, but Kid, Liz and Patti were unaware.

"Hello, Marie-sensei." Tsubaki said, smiling sweetly. Marie nodded. Kid, Liz and Patti walked into the kitchen.

"Marie-sensei?" they said, in unison. Maka looked at them.

"Soul, are you ready to go?" Maka asked. Soul nodded, unusually complacently, and shoved Black*Star and Kid out the door.

"See you later, Maka." Soul said, shutting the front door behind her.

"Alright, girls, in the lounge room!" Maka beamed. Liz, Patti and Marie walked into the lounge room whilst Maka and Tsubaki organised things out in the kitchen.

"Are you ready, guys?" Maka asked.

"Yes, Maka-chan!" Marie beamed. Maka walked out with a little stand of cupcakes, and Tsubaki walked out with a jug of a pink, icy drink. Marie, Liz and Patti all smiled as Maka and Tsubaki placed the food and drink down on the table. Maka brought in some plastic champagne glasses and gave one to each of the women.

"Who wants some raspberry ice drink?" Tsubaki asked. All of the women nodded and Maka poured them all drinks. She placed straws in all of the glasses and then sat down, tucking her legs underneath her.

"So, Marie-sensei, how are you feeling?" Maka asked.

"Oh, you know. As good as I can be." Marie said, wistfully looking into the pink drink she was holding. Tsubaki noticed the sadness in Marie's voice.

"Anyway, change of subject!" Tsubaki smiled. Marie looked up.

"Oh! That's right... Maka, I have something to tell you." Liz smirked.

"Really?" Maka replied. All of the women leaned in eagerly.

"I'll tell you, but you can't tell Kid-kun I did. Any of you." Liz said. All of the women nodded.

"Well, Maka, Kid-kun told me something. You know the end of year ball is coming up soon, right?" Liz asked.

"Yeah..." Maka said, nervously.

"Well, Kid-kun was thinking about asking you to go with him." Liz smiled. Maka's eyes widened.

"Oh, my... W-W-What?" Maka said. Tsubaki's eyes widened.

"Maka-chan, do you like Kid-kun?" Tsubaki asked. Maka blushed.

"I'll never tell!" Maka smiled.

"Just watch out for those Shibusen dances, girls. There will be boys who go there looking for only one thing..." Marie warned.

"Giraffes?" Patti asked. The women laughed.

"No, Patti. But you're pretty close." Marie giggled, taking a sip of her drink.

"We know what you mean, Marie-sensei." Maka smiled.

"I hope so. And do you know what you do to any boy who tries to do something to you that you don't want him to?" Marie asked. The girls looked slightly puzzled.

"What's that, Marie-sensei?" Tsubaki asked.

"You kick him where it hurts." Marie said. The women laughed in unison. Marie took a cupcake from the stand, taking a small bite out of the side.

"Oh, my goodness, these are really good, girls! Who made these?" Marie asked.

"I did, Marie-sensei." Maka said.

"Well, Maka, you've got one thing going for you and Kid-kun." Marie said.

"What, Marie-sensei?" Maka asked.

"If he doesn't ask you to the ball, just give him one of these, it's sure to change his mind." Marie smiled. All of the girls took a cupcake and bit into them.

"Maka, these are amazing!" Patti said.

"Ah, Patti... you've got some icing on your mouth." Maka giggled. Patti smiled and licked the icing off of her lips.

The women talked for hours. Even when Soul, Black*Star and Kid got back, they ignored them. And for that period of time, Marie forgot about the guilt. She forgot about the pain.

For that period of time, Marie was carefree.

**A/N: So, I actually don't mind how that chapter turned out. The middle bit annoys me slightly, but overall, I quite like it :D I hope some of you feel the same way. And I know that teachers would never stay at students' houses, but it's Death City, it's my story and I can do what I like :P x**


	11. I'll Always Return

**A/N: So, this chapter is dedicated to my laptop, Gary. I love you, Gary 3 Thanks for reading, guys! x**

**And, just a little shout out to ChocoholicWallflower, SoulEaterSushiBomb and Frankie Stien for your constant kind reviews.**

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><p>The next two weeks of Marie's pregnancy were rather sullen. She had to go back to Shibusen, and avoiding Stein for a whole fortnight was the hardest thing that she'd ever had to do. She had told everyone that she was expecting, but everyone gushing over her seemed to drive Stein and Marie further away from reconciliation.<p>

She was still with Maka, Soul and Blair, as Azusa had been suddenly called back on assignment. It was a Sunday night, and Marie was still feeling very upset about Stein. Little did she know, Stein was feeling the same way.

"_I can't take this anymore. I..." _Stein thought to himself, staring at his blank, stitch-laden walls. He thought about Marie; he thought about how Maka had told him she was staying with her and Soul; he thought about a lot of things.

"Damn it." Stein said, slamming his head onto his computer desk. He looked up at his computer screen.

"I need her." Stein said, turning his computer screen off.

"See, now, she'd be telling me off for talking to myself." Stein chuckled. He tried to stop himself. Abandoning Marie was eating him up inside. There were so many things that Stein had never experienced before his madness. Now was the time to well and truly accept something.

He was wrong about Marie. He was wrong about the baby. He was wrong about not being able to take care of it. It was, to be honest, an excuse filled with cowardice. Stein was not good at getting things wrong. And, considering Marie's situation, there were risks to be taken. Mistakes had to be made.

So Stein had to decide between being right and Marie. He stood up and began to walk out of his laboratory.

He'd choose Marie every time.

Marie sat on Soul and Maka's couch, watching television monotonously. It was nearly ten at night, and Soul and Maka were about to go to bed. Marie, however, could not sleep that particular night. That night marked the end of her first trimester of pregnancy. Three months since the little child had begun to grow inside of her.

And she was spending it alone.

Well, she was spending it with two teenagers and a cat instead of spending it with the person who she really wanted to.

She could, in theory, go back to him whenever she wanted. But, she wasn't going to go back. Not because she didn't want to; she desperately did. It was because she had faith; faith that he could see past any madness still left, past his scientific desires. She had faith that Stein would come back.

"Goodnight, Marie-sensei." Maka and Soul said, walking out of the lounge room and through the kitchen to their respective bedrooms.

"Goodnight, Maka-chan, Soul-kun." Marie said. As the footsteps quietened and the bedroom doors shut, Marie looked down at her obvious stomach. She didn't know whether she was tired or just emotional, but she began to speak to the little life inside of her.

"Hi, baby." Marie said. She wasn't quite sure why she stopped. Was she expecting a reply? She continued, anyway.

"So, baby, I don't know if it's getting cramped in there for you yet, but it sure is for me." Marie giggled slightly.

"I just wanted to talk to you about what's been happening the past few weeks. Mama may have seemed a little confused. That's because, well, your Mama and Papa had a fight. And Mama feels really, really bad about it. Your papa is an incredible guy. Not bad on the eyes, either. Oh! You, you don't know what he looks like, do you? You don't know what I look like. Well, Mama has blonde hair, but she's not very tall. She has gold eyes, but she wears an eyepatch. It's a long story. And, your mama can actually turn into a weapon, which Papa can use to fight bad guys. But, you're not old enough to go into that. Papa... well, Papa is very tall, has silver hair, and he has a screw in his head! I know, it's a bit funny, isn't it?" Marie asked, enthusiastically. Unfortunately, her abdomen didn't reply. It began to rain heavily and suddenly outside.

"Well, it's a bit funny for some people. But Papa had some problems. He's better now though. And I promise that he's going to love you. Papa is a loving, caring person, really. Some people say that he's not very nice. But you don't listen to them, okay?" Marie asked, her stomach still not replying.

"What else... oh, yes! This house that we're in, it belongs to Maka Albarn and Soul Eater Evans. They're two students at the school Mama and Papa teach at. Maka is the daughter of Spirit Albarn. He's a Deathscythe, like Mama. He was Papa's old partner. Just never, ever ask Spirit about his ex-wife. And, today, Black*Star, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, Death the Kid and Liz and Patti Thompson came over. But I'll tell you about them later, okay? They're a lot to explain." Marie laughed to herself.

"What else... oh ,yes. Your papa used to go to school with Mama. Maybe, someday, you'll go to the school too! It's called the Death Weapon Meister Academy. It's easier to just call it Shibusen. And, the man who runs it, Shinigami-sama, is very nice. He's kinda intimidating when you first meet him, but once you get to know him, he's not scary at a-" Marie stopped as she heard rapping on the door.

She nearly jumped out of her skin.

She cautiously stood up and walked towards the door, ready to turn her forearm into a hammer if need be. Soul and Maka didn't have a peephole in their door, so Marie had to take her chance. She opened the door without undoing the chain lock. She saw a familiar face.

"Stein?" Marie said, as she looked up at the drenched man.

"Marie." Stein said, leaning his head against the door. Marie tried not to sound overenthusiastic.

"What are you doing here?" Marie asked. By this time, both Soul and Maka were awake, poking their heads around the edge of the kitchen doorframe, simply listening.

"I... I have to talk to you." Stein replied.

"Well, we can do it here." Marie said.

"Fine. Look, Marie, our... _heated conversation_… the other week... I was wrong. I hadn't thought about it correctly." Stein replied.

"How so?" Marie asked.

"Marie, I've never been put in a situation where I'm obligated to take care of another human being, genetically. And, I'm conceding it. I was wrong. I've had weeks to think about it. I've collected all the necessary data. And… I was wrong. I can take care of you. I can take care of the baby. " Stein said.

"Bet he took care of her when he-" Soul said, when he was hit, not with a book, but with the back of Maka's hand.

"How can I tell you're not lying?" Marie asked, her hand on the chain lock.

"Because... I would _never_ destroy something I created. I'm sorry, Marie." Stein said. Marie smiled slightly.

"Stein..." Marie said, closing her eyes and blushing slightly.

"Even if we're not going to do the whole reconciliation thing, could you possibly let me in? Because it's freezing out here." Stein said, the rain having caused his hair to stick to his head and his screw. Marie smiled sympathetically, unlocking the door. She opened it all the way and looked at Stein, his lab coat drenched.

"Did you walk all the way here?" Marie asked, the cold wind blowing on her exposed legs. She was wearing a nightgown, the only one that fit her at the moment.

"No." Stein said, pausing slightly.

Marie looked up at him as he continued the sentence.

"I ran." Stein said. Marie, the hopeless romantic she was, let the feelings of her re-enforced faith in Stein overwhelm her as she threw her arms around his neck, pressing her soft lips against his cold ones. She had missed him so much over the past few weeks.

Maka and Soul walked into the lounge room quietly. Maka couldn't help but smile as she saw Marie leaning against Stein as he placed his hands on her bump. Maka coughed, causing the two to break apart.

"Maka-chan, Soul-kun! I'm sorry, did we wake you?" Marie asked.

"Oh, no. Don't worry about it. So, I suspect that you won't be staying with us much longer." Maka smiled.

"I'd suspect not." Marie said.

"It's much too cold, wet and dark for you two to get back to Doctor Stein's laboratory. You two can have Soul's room tonight." Maka said. Soul's eyes widened.

"Thank you, Maka." Marie said.

"It's been a _long_ day. I think we'll be off." Stein said. Marie nodded and leant against Stein as they walked through the kitchen to the bedroom. Once they were out of earshot, Soul complained to Maka.

"Why do they have to take _my_ room?" Soul asked.

"Because Marie-sensei has had my room the entire time. I think it's your turn." Maka said.

"B-but, they're recently reconciled lovers, Maka! What if they..." Soul started.

"Soul! Marie-sensei and Doctor Stein are respectable Shibusen teachers! They wouldn't do that in a student's home." Maka said. As Soul breathed a sigh of relief, Maka realised she could really pull his strings.

"Although... Marie-sensei is pregnant. Her hormones are well and truly in control of her system..." Maka smirked.

Soul ran to his room faster than he ever had before.

**A/N: I kinda loved writing this chapter :D Especially Marie's dialogue to her stomach :P Just in reference to that, she refers to herself and Stein as 'Mama' and 'Papa.' I used these terms because, as we all know, the spelling of Mum/Mom is debated. I'm from Australia, so we use 'Mum.' So, to avoid any confusion, I used 'Mama.' Plus, it's cuter, in my opinion. Anyway :P Hope you had as much fun reading this chapter as I did writing it.**


	12. Let's Find Out

**A/N: Chapter 12 :) this chapter is dedicated to my little brother, who I'm so proud of. He sat down, silently for three hours and watched nine episodes of Soul Eater back-to-back. He's ten. This one's for you, bro :P Oh, and, there's a fluff warning on this chapter, towards the end.**

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><p>Marie and Stein sat in the waiting room of the Death City hospital, the sounds of crying children and complaining patients ringing in their ears. Marie seemed slightly annoyed by it, but Stein seemed oddly soothed. Marie, flicking through a magazine, looked over at the content smile on Stein's face.<p>

"What are you smiling about?" Marie asked, flicking through the magazine.

"Oh, just this hospital environment. Reminds me of my internship days." Stein smirked.

"I bet you were the goody-two-shoes intern." Marie sniggered.

"On the contrary, I went for more 'rebel without a cause.'" Stein replied.

"Oh, I bet that worked well for you." Marie responded.

"I'll have you know I've pulled a few nurses in my time." Stein replied, cheekily.

"Oh, really?" Marie glanced at Stein.

"Indeed." Stein said.

"The sadism worked?" Marie asked. Stein looked down at her, smirked slightly before crossing his arms.

"It worked on you, didn't it?" Stein asked. Marie smirked slightly, before stretching with a yawn.

"You alright?" Stein asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm just tired." Marie said, sleepily. As she replied, a nurse called for her and Stein. Stein stood up and helped Marie do the same, resting his hand on her lower back and pulling her to a standing position.

"Thanks, Stein." Marie said, following the nurse into the tiny room, followed by Stein. The nurse laid Marie down on the hospital bed, next to a whole set of machines which she proceeded to hook Marie up to.

Any attempts at bravado by Marie may have made were wiped out as soon as the wires and straps began to be attached. Marie was not very good with medical equipment. She began to quake with fear, staring over at Stein. She grabbed blindly at his hand. He took hers and held it tightly.

"Marie, they're not going to hurt you. It's just an ultrasound machine. It's going to let us see the baby. You know this." Stein said. Marie, however, was still slightly worried.

"Wait, what's that for?" Marie asked as the nurse attached a small circle of gauze to Marie's exposed stomach.

"That helps detect the baby's heart rate." Stein said. The nurse, who seemed shy, was grateful that she didn't have to speak much. After a while, Marie's doctor walked in.

"Hello, Marie-san, Doctor Stein. How are you, today?" Doctor Katsuma asked. Doctor Aya Katsuma was a 30-something year old doctor. She had long, wavy, red hair, and was dressed in a white coat and blue scrubs.

"I'm tired, but I'm alright." Marie said. Stein could detect that she was still slightly nervous, though she was a lot calmer than before.

"She's a little worried about all the machines and what-not." Stein said.

"Stein!" Marie growled. Doctor Katsuma chuckled.

"Don't worry, Marie-san. None of this will hurt you or the baby in any way." Doctor Katsuma said. She took a tube of ultrasound gel and squeezed some of it out onto Marie's stomach. She giggled slightly.

"It's cold." Marie said, her voice small. Doctor Katsuma smiled. She took out a small ultrasound wand, and began to spread the gel across Marie's stomach. After about a minute, Stein and Marie heard their child's heartbeat together for the first time.

"I-Is that..." Marie asked.

"Yep. Your baby's heartbeat." Doctor Katsuma said, continuing to move the wand around. Marie looked over at Stein.

"Look what you did." Marie said.

"Me?" Stein asked.

"Yes, you." Marie giggled, still looking at the pictures of her baby on the screen in awe.

"Are you two interested in finding out the baby's sex?" Doctor Katsuma asked.

"Yes." Marie said, without even consulting Stein.

"And you, Doctor Stein?" Doctor Katsuma asked.

"Hey. I'm not one to get in the way of a pregnant woman." Stein said.

"So, that's a yes?" Doctor Katsuma asked. Stein nodded. Doctor Katsuma looked around for a while, before stopping and smiling.

"Well, congratulations." Doctor Katsuma said.

"What is it?" Marie asked.

"You two are having a little...girl." Doctor Katsuma said. Marie's eyes lit up.

"R-Really?" Marie said, choking back tears. Doctor Katsuma turned the monitor around, showing both Stein and Marie. Stein held Marie's hand tighter as he began to smile.

"She's... she's growing so much." Marie said, her grip on Stein's hand growing ever tighter.

"Now she's got more reasons to feminise my house." Stein joked as both he and Marie continued to look in awe at their little baby; their daughter; on the screen.

"Do you two want a print-out?" Doctor Katsuma asked.

"Y-Yes please." Marie said, zoning out. The actuality of the situation reverberated in her mind. She and Stein had created the little materialisation of X chromosomes that she was incubating.

"_A little girl._" Marie thought. Doctor Katsuma wiped the ultrasound gel off of Marie's stomach. Marie sat up, carefully, and slid back on the bed. Doctor Katsuma handed Marie the ultrasound picture.

"Alright, so, here's the..." Doctor Katsuma began, when her pager beeped.

"Oh, I've got to go and check on a patient. I'll be back with you in a few minutes. Are you alright, here?" Doctor Katsuma asked. Marie nodded, still looking at the ultrasound.

"Uh... um..." Marie mumbled, confusedly. Stein leant over to her. He sat himself on the side of the bed and took the ultrasound picture from Marie. He chuckled slightly.

"Here, let me help you." Stein said, sitting next to Marie and pulling his legs up onto the bed.

"What... what's that?" Marie asked, pointing to a curvature on the left of the picture.

"That's her head. See, you go down," Stein said, taking a hold of Marie's hand and running it over the picture, "and there's her nose."

Marie looked in wonderment at the soft curve of her daughter's nose.

"She's got your nose." Marie said to Stein, leaning against Stein, the fatigue of pregnancy taking over her.

"Poor thing." Stein said, quietly. Marie giggled.

"I can't wait to hold her." Marie said, running her finger around the outline of her daughter's picture. Marie yawned once again. She turned over, snuggling up to Stein. She sighed contently as she closed her extremely heavy eyelids. Stein chuckled slightly, dropping his hands into his lap and looking at the ultrasound picture.

"A daughter." Stein said to himself, looking at the image. He couldn't quite comprehend the fact that he had helped create a life. A life other than his own which was his responsibility.

"Alright, Marie-san, Doctor Stein..." Doctor Katsuma said before glancing at the sleeping Marie.

"It's been a long few weeks for her." Stein said.

"I'd expect so. So, I'll need to see Marie-san back here in about a month." Doctor Katsuma said.

"Well, I don't think Marie's exactly in any state to be making appointments at the moment. If I get Mira Naigus to contact you in the next couple of days, could we organise it that way? We're teachers at Shibusen, so..." Stein said.

"I expect that'll work. You should probably get her home." Doctor Katsuma smiled. Stein nodded. He placed his hand on Marie's shoulder and shook her, lightly.

"Marie... Marie, come on. We've got to go." Stein said.

"Shh, Franken. I'm sleeping." Marie said, tiredly. Stein raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Come on, Marie." Stein said, sliding one of his hands under Marie's shoulder blades, the other under the back of her knees, and picking her up. She was slightly heavier, but that was to be expected during pregnancy. Marie stirred very little as Stein walked out into the waiting room. He tried to ignore the looks of the gushing women, who, at the sight of his chivalrous act, began to berate their own partners.

"I can't remember the last time _you _carried_ me_ like that." One woman said.

"I can't remember the last time you _weighed_ that much." Her husband replied, followed with a swift knock on the back of the head.

As Stein carried Marie out of the hospital, the fresh air made Marie come to. She opened her eyes and was met with the soft warmth of Stein's chest.

"Stein?" Marie asked. Stein gently let her down. Marie's eyes widened in shock.

"Wh-Where's the scan?" Marie fretted. Stein rolled his eyes and put his hand into his back pocket.

"Calm down, Marie. It's right here." Stein said, placing the scan in Marie's hand. She looked at the scan, immediately calming down. The flat of her daughter's forehead. The curve of her daughter's nose. The bump of her daughter's tummy. The way that, although it wasn't a detailed picture, she could tell it looked like him.

That made it all worth it.

**A/N: I told you it was fluffy. I used the word 'tummy,' for goodness sake. Oh well, I'm actually pretty happy with that chapter. You just may need to go and brush your teeth.**

**Alright, just a little warning. I get to go for (non life threatening, optional) surgery on the weekend to fix my overbite. So, if I don't update, don't fret. I've already finished writing the story, so it's not ended. Thanks to all my readers, once again :)**


	13. The Little Sign

**A/N: Alright, one more chapter before my surgery tomorrow :) I should be back by mid next-week. **

**So, this chapter is dedicated to all of my fellow Stein fanatics :) Because we love him and ****he's totally ripped and I'd have sex with him in a heartbeat**** he has an intricate back story. Apologies if he's OOC in this chapter. This chapter is fluffy :P But I think that, after the fight a few chapters ago, Stein and Marie need some love.**

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><p>Marie sat on the couch, her hands laid lightly on her stomach. It was really weird and quiet around here. She had woken up this morning with a slight cough, and Stein had basically forbid her from going into Shibusen that day.<p>

She was completely fine.

Stein had become rather protective of Marie lately. Not that she was going to complain. Marie wondered, sometimes, whether he would have been so protective if she was carrying a boy. However, she was only wondering such preposterous things because she had nothing to do. She stood herself up, something which she would not be able to do herself in the coming months, and began to look around the house.

"_Come on, Stein. You have to have something around this house that isn't science related. A pack of cards? Some magazines? I'll settle for a colouring book._" Marie thought to herself. That set off something in her mind.

"Colour!" Marie said to herself, smiling. She slipped on a pair of shoes, picked up her purse and left Stein's house for downtown Death City.

Marie's rather grandiose plan of walking to Death City was trampled upon about ten metres down the street. She was much too tired to walk, so she called a taxi which took her into Death City in a third of the time and in infinitely more cooling. It was the dead of summer.

The temperature that day, though not overly hot, was still slightly uncomfortable, so the city was pretty deserted. Not to mention it was a school day.

"Now, where can I find it..." Marie asked herself. She walked down the streets and sighed with relief when she found what she wanted. She purchased the materials and made her way back to Stein's house, via taxi. She lugged her equipment up the stairs and walked in the house. She placed them on the couch and walked awkwardly to the bathroom.

Her daughter had been dancing on her bladder the whole time.

After finally getting some relief, Marie walked into Stein's room, the place where she had moved all her clothes after their little predicament. She and Stein, though the fight had shaken them, still had their relationship intact. She'd moved her clothes into Stein's room after they'd fought; just to show that she was there for the long haul.

Marie changed into an old, plain t-shirt and an old pair of overalls which she still owned from her early days after graduating from Shibusen, when they were still cool. She tied her hair back into a bun and walked out into the lounge room.

"Right. Let's do this." Marie said. She picked up her bag of supplies and walked into the now empty spare room. Stein and Marie had cleared it out upon their reconciliation. It was going to be their daughter's room. However, it wasn't exactly a..._homey_ looking room. Marie removed the supplies from her shopping bag.

She pulled out a can of pink paint, a can of white paint, some topcoat, a tray, a paint roller and a set of paintbrushes.

She was going to girl up the room, whether Stein liked it or not.

She opened the can of pastel pink paint, pouring about a third of it into the tray. It was two in the afternoon, so she only had about an hour and a half until Stein got home and asked her what in Death's name she was doing.

She took some old sheets and laid them around the banisters of the room. She dipped the paint roller into the tray, its original white now tainted with the pink. Marie began to roll the paint-covered roller across the usually grey walls. She smiled as the walls began to brighten. After a good hour of painting, the walls were a solid pink colour.

"There." Marie said, looking up at her hard work. She pulled up a chair and sat down on it, breathing a sigh of relief. Her daughter, though still only little, was weighing her down. She looked down at her now paint-stained overalls. She chuckled as she rested her hands on her stomach, her eyelids closing. She didn't hear the front doors open and Stein walk into the room.

"What happened in here?" Stein asked. Marie abruptly stood up and opened her eyes.

"Uh...um...oh...well, I..." Marie stammered. Stein smirked.

"Calm down, Marie. I don't exactly think that the walls in here were completely conducive for a child, anyway." Stein said. Marie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, because..." Marie stopped as Stein opened the can of white paint and took a paintbrush.

"What are you doing?" Marie asked, as Stein took the paintbrush to the wall.

"I said the walls weren't completely conducive." Stein said, beginning to paint on the walls. Marie stood behind him, standing on her tiptoes to try to see what he was painting. She smiled as she realised what they were.

"Really?" Marie asked, standing flat on her feet.

"Like you've said, countless times, she's just as much mine as she is yours." Stein replied, continuing to paint.

Marie smiled at the subtleties of that sentence.

She stood back, watching Stein paint his designs all the way to the top of the wall. Marie was glad she had a tall man around the house. She felt rather short around him, but he was awfully convenient when it came to grocery shopping.

"Let me help." Marie said, picking up a paintbrush and beginning to copy Stein's designs onto the opposite wall.

"Alright, if you insist, but I doubt you can reach the top of the wall." Stein said, smirking to himself. Marie bit her bottom lip as she continued painting. After a good fifteen minutes, Stein and Marie had finished painting.

"There." Stein said to himself. The wall, though still pastel pink, were to his satisfaction. Across all of the walls, there were long stitch patterns.

"I'm not actually that short, you know." Marie said. Stein turned around and walked over to her, his frame towering over hers.

"Really?" Stein asked. Marie glanced up at him, looking him in the eye. She took her paintbrush and placed a spot of white paint on his nose.

"Wh- Oh, that's it." Stein said, taking his paintbrush and flicking it at Marie. Spatters of white paint covered Marie's T. Marie squealed as she walked past Stein swiftly, picking up the roller in the pink paint and wielding it in front of him.

"Come on, meister. Bet you can't wield as well as a weapon can." Marie said as Stein dived at her. She swerved under his arm, rolling the paint all the way down the back of Stein's lab coat. He turned around swiftly, the paintbrush slicking against Marie's hair.

"Stein! Oh, you are _so_ dead!" Marie said, thrusting the paint roller in Stein's direction, causing him to fall over onto the floor. He laid down, resting his head on his hands. Marie sympathetically struggled down next to him, her head resting on the sheet covered ground, her arm around his torso.

"This room smells of paint." Stein said, closing his eyes.

"No. That's just my hair." Marie smirked, turning into Stein.

"Oh. I knew that." Stein said. Marie chuckled.

"Sure you did." Marie said.

"You didn't have to do all this. You were sick." Stein said to Marie.

"No, I really wasn't. I coughed a little when I woke up. It was just reflux." Marie said. The absolute joys of pregnancy never ended.

"It could have been worse." Stein said.

"But it wasn't." Marie laughed.

"I suppose not." Stein replied.

"But, it's really nice that you care." Marie said. She smiled up at him.

"_He's gonna make a great dad._" Marie thought. Nobody had ever actually given the notion of Stein being a father any thought, really.

But now that Marie looked back, past all the madness, past all the... dissection... he really cared. Especially for her. And, this baby girl was half her. Though, if she told someone that she thought he cared, she'd probably get some sort of peculiar look.

Marie pressed her body, or rather, her bump, up against Stein. They laid there for a while, the rarity of having absolutely nothing to do slightly confusing them. As they laid there, together, eyes closed and minds switched off, something caused them to both jerk up.

"Marie, did you-" Stein asked, his eyes wide.

"Uh huh." Marie said, her breaths becoming shorter. She placed her hands on her stomach and waited. After a couple of minutes, it happened again.

"Stein!" Marie said, grabbing his hand and placing it on her stomach. He felt it. She felt it.

Their daughter had decided to make herself known and had begun to move. Like Marie's doctor had said, she'd been moving most of the time, but she'd never been big enough or moved enough to have been felt.

"W-wow." Marie stammered to herself.

"Yeah..." Stein said. Marie looked over at him. She'd never rendered him speechless before. And their little girl had managed to do it before she was even born. Impressive.

"Hey, baby. This is your room." Marie smiled, looking down at her stomach. Marie's face turned from a blissful look to a pained expression.

"Marie, are you alright?" Stein asked. Marie groaned.

"Marie?" Stein said. Marie stood up, her expression still pained.

"Marie, answer me!" Stein said, worriedly. Marie began to waddle out of the room, uncomfortably.

"She jumped on my bladder."

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><p><strong>AN: Alright, I just want to say that the whole painting thing **_**may**_** just have been thrown in there as a plot device *shock horror* Because I originally tried to write a chapter solely about the baby moving, but it was too hard :P**

**I'll see you gorgeous guys after my surgery :)**


	14. An Unstoppable Force

**A/N: Alright, this chapter is dedicated to Exorcist Aki-Chan, another one of my friends :)  
><strong>**Who will yell at me when she sees this dedication and me telling any ****-Man fans to read her story :) And, as always, dedicated to kyonkichi's kitten and all of you readers :) Make sure you check out kyonkichi's kitten's fics :) especially if you're a Kid fanatic. Which I suppose we all are, a little, but still. WARNING. Once again, dis be fluffy.**

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><p>Marie woke up that morning with a funny feeling in her stomach. It had been nearly a week since she'd been able to feel her daughter moving. Since then, she'd begun another typical facet of pregnancy.<p>

She'd had the backaches.

She'd had the morning sickness.

She'd had the frequent bathroom trips.

She'd had the baby keeping her up half the night by practising martial arts in her abdomen.

There was one thing that hadn't occurred. Today was going to change that fact.

Marie woke up with a terrible craving.

She stumbled out into the kitchen. Unfortunately, Stein was out doing extra lessons with the mischievous trio of Maka, Black*Star and Kid. So, Marie, the hungry pregnant woman, was left at a home full of food.

Oh, the humanity.

Marie wandered around the kitchen, looking for the things that would combine to satisfy her cravings. She looked in the cupboards, but nothing seemed to quite be the right food. That was, of course, until she got to the glorious jar of thick, sticky, peanuty goodness.

"Aha!" Marie said to herself, grabbing out the relatively small pot of peanut butter. She pulled a spoon from the drawer and sat down on the couch. She unscrewed the lid, discarding it on the coffee table. As she stuck her spoon in the soft, nearly orange mixture, her tastebuds did back flips as her eyes told them what was going to happen next.

Marie took out a spoonful and put it in her mouth, her craving now sedated but not eradicated. She licked the remnants of peanut butter off the spoon and began to take another spoonful.

"_Nobody's ever going to use this, anyway._" Marie thought, trying to justify the fact that she was eating peanut butter from the jar.

"_It's for the baby. Yes, the baby wants the peanut butter. That's genius, Marie. Pure genius._" Marie thought smugly to herself, continuing to eat the peanut butter. However, much to her dismay, after a few more spoonfuls, the jar was nearly empty.

Marie sighed as she looked wistfully into her now empty jar of peanut butter. The jar was completely tapped, apart from a little bit around the top rim and the sides. She looked around. There really was nobody else in the house. She carefully put her finger in the jar and slid it around the rim, taking the peanut butter with her. She looked around once more, just in case someone had gotten in without her noticing.

Marie then put her finger in her mouth, desperately tasting the peanut butter which seemed so much more flavoursome now. Maybe that was because it was nearly the last bit. Maybe it was because it was collected in a clandestine way. Whatever the reason, Marie had her peanut butter. And it contented her. However, just before she had finished eradicating her finger of any trace of peanut butter...

"Marie?" a voice asked. Marie looked up, doe-eyed and most definitely sprung.

Her eyes darted, and in the heat of it all, she forgot to remove her finger from her mouth. As she began to process the situation, she removed the digit from between her lips and looked up at Stein, pointing to the empty container in her other hand.

"We're out of peanut butter." Marie said, her voice small. Stein just chuckled.

"I'll say." he said, taking the empty jar out of Marie's grasps.

"I-I-I got hungry." Marie said, innocently.

"You don't even like peanut butter." Stein said to Marie.

"Well, apparently the baby does." Marie said, leaning back on the couch, a smug smirk plastered on her face.

"I'm sure she does." Stein said, smirking at Marie. Marie's expression dropped.

"She does!" Marie replied, defensively.

"I'm positive." Stein said.

"She also wants you to go out and get some more." Marie said, smugly.

"Wha-" Stein began. Marie stood up and walked over to Stein, twiddling her thumbs innocently. She knew that there was one thing that she did which Stein could not resist. Something that made him completely defenceless.

"P-Please... for me?" Marie said, her eyes wide and glossy. She tilted her head to the side slightly and blinked quickly.

"Marie, don't-" Stein started.

"P-P-Please?" Marie sniffed. Stein rolled his eyes.

"Marie..."

"But I'd _really_ love to have some..." Marie said, her voice soft. Stein sighed.

"You're incredibly manipulative, aren't you?" Stein asked. Marie tilted her head to the side and pouted slightly.

"Fine." Stein said. Marie's face brightened and she let out a little squeal of content.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Marie said, wrapping her arms tightly around Stein's waist. Stein rolled his eyes.

"Alright, alright, do you want your peanut butter or not?" Stein asked. Marie pulled away.

"Yes, please." Marie smiled, walking off into the bathroom. Stein rolled his eyes once more as he left the house once again.

Marie looked in the mirror, splashing her face with water. She glanced in the mirror, took a deep breath in and put her eyepatch back on. As she dawdled back to the couch, she felt herself going slightly faint.

"Oh, goodness." Marie said to herself, sitting down on the couch. She felt her head spinning as she decided to lie down. She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, trying to eradicate the feelings in her head.

* * *

><p>She woke up, a good twenty minutes later, with a rather dooming feeling in the bottom of her stomach. She sat up and noticed that Stein was sitting across from her.<p>

"Ah, Marie, I-" Stein began. Marie put her hand up, stood up and ran to the bathroom. She kneeled over the toilet and lost all of the food she had eaten that day- mostly peanut butter. Stein walked in after her, kneeling down next to her and rubbing circles into her back. He pulled her hair back and, as he did so, Marie felt her face cool down.

He leant up to the sink and grabbed one of Marie's hair ties. He pulled her hair back up into a ponytail, just to keep it out of her face. She was glad that he was there but, unfortunately, was not exactly in any state to appreciate it. Marie coughed, tears rolling from her eyes.

"Shh, shh..." Stein said, still kneeling over Marie. Marie used her last spurt of energy to flush the toilet. She had her head hung over the toilet bowl, still, as she was completely and utterly spent. Stein pulled her back, his arm firmly yet carefully wrapped around her waist.

"We're _never _having sex _ever_ again." Marie said, her eyes closed. She was completely depleted. She rested on Stein's chest and took a handful of his shirt.

"Stein…" she whispered.

"Hang on." Stein said, standing up and walking out of the bathroom.

"Stein?" Marie asked, tiredly. Stein walked back in with a glass of water and proceeded to sit back down next to her.

"Here." Stein said. Marie took the glass from his hand and began to shakily bring it to her lips. Stein brought his hands up to steady Marie's. He was still all overprotective. It was sweet, Marie thought. Nobody had ever seen Stein like this before; but he had been mad for years. After taking a large gulp of water, Marie sighed.

"Thank you, Stein." Marie said, leaning against him. Stein looked down at her.

"You smell like peanut butter." Stein remarked.

"Don't even." Marie said, quietly.

"Sorry." Stein said.

"I-It's alright." Marie said back. She smiled contently and cuddled up close to Stein.

"You're snuggly." Marie said, burying her head into Stein's chest.

"Wait... what?" Stein asked. However, his words fell on deaf ears as Marie had already fallen asleep. Stein chuckled to himself as he pulled Marie up gently.

"Where are we going? Is it fun?" Marie said, dazedly. Stein couldn't stifle a laugh at that.

"Sure, Marie." Stein said as Marie leant her weight against him. They walked, slowly but surely, to the bedroom. Stein pulled back the covers, and Marie was just awake enough to get herself into the bed.

"Thanks, Stein." Marie said.

"That's alright, Marie." Stein said. Just before he walked out of the room, he heard Marie's small voice coming from behind him.

"I love you." Marie said, sleepily. Stein turned around quickly, looking at the gorgeous, blonde woman who was in his bed. Did she say what he thought she said? He couldn't question it, because Marie was already fast asleep.

And he decided not to question it, because he'd be obligated to tell her how he really felt.

**A/N: I reiterate, I told you it was fluffy. Oh, and kyonkichi's kitten pointed out to me that it was rather ironic and sadistic that I dedicated the chapter, known as the 'Peanut Butter Chapter' to Exorcist Aki-Chan, seeing as she's, uh, well, deathly allergic to peanuts, but HEY. The sentiment is there.**


	15. Can He Help?

**A/N: This chapter... uh... I don't know. Dedicated to all the cats. SpiritxStein dialogue :D**

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><p>It had been nearly a month and a half since Marie had, most likely, accidentally told Stein that she loved him.<p>

And, to put it delicately... Stein was completely confused.

Stein was lurking around the faculty room at Shibusen when Spirit finished his final lesson for the day. Stein had no lessons for the day – Class Crescent Moon was taking a field trip, seeing as it was only a month until the end of year, and therefore, the end-of-year-dance. Sid had volunteered to take the class to the Death City Mall, much to the enjoyment of the girls and the disgruntlement of the boys. Stein didn't even have to be there that day. But he really needed some time to himself, and he also wanted to give Marie some time to herself. But, like usual, Spirit had to stick his nose into everything.

"What's wrong, Stein? Spirit asked, pulling up a chair and sitting next to him.

"I'm dying here. I can't smoke around Marie and forgot to bring my cigarettes today. So _please_ don't agitate me." Stein said, tapping his fingers impatiently on his thigh.

"Why can't you smoke around Marie? Oh, that's right, because you got her pregnant." Spirit said, without even a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Stein glared at him. He wasn't even being facetious. He legitimately had to remind himself.

"Yeah... yeah." Stein said, slightly restless.

"No... no, I've seen you before when you've forgotten your cigarettes. You aren't like this. What's really the matter?" Spirit asked.

"_Damn._" Stein thought. Spirit may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he still managed to get inside Stein's head.

"It's nothing, Spirit." Stein said.

"Obviously it is something." Spirit said. Stein hated this. Even though he and Spirit weren't very close, their weapon-meister relationship held some sort of respect.

"Alright, look. I was with Marie, about a month and a half ago now..." Stein said. Spirit put his hand up. He sighed and chuckled, nodding at the younger man.

"Don't worry, Stein, I know what you mean." Spirit said, standing next to Stein and putting his arm around his shoulder.

"Y-You do?" Stein asked.

"I do, I do. It's very difficult to admit, but I've been there before." Spirit said.

"Wait... what?" Stein said.

"I know, it's hard to admit it to yourself sometimes. It's hard to believe it's even happened, right?" Spirit said.

"Yes, it is, I suppose." Stein said.

"It's alright. It happens to a lot of men." Spirit said. Stein became slightly more confused.

"Huh?" Stein asked.

"It's alright. And you have to let Marie know that it's not her fault." Spirit said.

"Alright..." Stein said.

"You've just gotta face facts, Stein. Sometimes, things don't work how you want them to down there." Spirit said, Stein immediately jerked backwards and stood up.

"No! No, no, no, you've got it _all_ wrong, Spirit. All wrong." Stein said.

"You don't have to go into denial, about it, Stein. It's perfectly natural." Spirit said.

"No, Spirit, Marie... Marie told me she loved me." Stein said, trying to set the record straight. Spirit stood there.

"So it's not..."

"No."

"So you don't..."

"No." Stein said. Spirit sat down.

"Oh." Spirit said. Stein resumed his seat across from him.

"Yeah." Stein said back.

"Sorry about that." Spirit said.

"No, no, don't worry about it." Stein said. The conversation stopped for a little while. Teachers walked in and out of the faculty room, but eventually, Spirit came to speak again.

"So... she told you she loved you?" Spirit ran his fingers through his red hair, still slightly embarrassed.

"Well, she was half asleep at the time." Stein said.

"So, what exactly are you worried about?" Spirit asked.

"I-I just don't know how to do all this." Stein said, exasperatedly.

"Let me tell you a story." Spirit said.

"_Oh, no._" Stein thought.

"When I found out that Kami was pregnant with Maka, I just freaked out." Spirit said.

"I know. I was there. You paced around a room for 45 minutes." Stein said.

"Yeah, but that's beside the point." Spirit said.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry. Anyway..." Stein said, sitting back on his chair.

"I freaked out for a little while, sure. Then, I got to a point where I realised that I could deal with it. Kami and I were happy for a while. Then, I got to the stage where you're at now. I was taking anything and everything and making it a reason to get scared." Spirit said. It was weird, Stein thought, that Spirit was making some mild sense.

"It took me a while, because I had nobody to talk to, but I eventually got back to the point where I could support Kami. It was tough, but eventually, we got to the day Maka was born. The day Maka was born was, hands down, the happiest day of my life." Spirit said. Stein glanced at him.

"Maka wasn't planned, though, was she?" Stein asked.

"Are you kidding? Kami and I weren't even considering marriage at the time! I was seventeen when she was conceived, of course she wasn't planned." Spirit said.

"But... it was still the happiest moment of your life?" Stein asked.

"Of course. When I saw her little, screeching, crying, bright red face... It's really more heart-warming than it sounds."Spirit said. Stein raised an eyebrow.

"I'd hope so." Stein said.

"Truthfully, even though I had all of the doubts, the worry and the fright... I wouldn't change a thing about it. Not even the fact that she was born when I was eighteen." Spirit said.

"Wow..." Stein said, slightly gobsmacked. He always had the scientific elements of things down pat but, the emotional side of things was uncharted territory.

"Just be prepared for labour. Kami nearly cut off circulation to my hand on several occasions." Spirit said.

"Yeah... yeah." Stein said.

"So, you found out the gender yet?" Spirit asked.

"Yeah, we did." Stein said.

"And?" Spirit asked.

"Oh... I don't know if I can tell you that, Spirit." Stein said, sitting on his desk chair and rolling over to the other side of the faculty room.

"What? Why not?" Spirit asked, following him. Stein looked back and pushed himself off of the wall, over to another side of the faculty room.

"I don't know if Marie would forgive me." Stein said. Spirit continued to follow Stein.

"Come on, Stein. All of this priceless advice I'm giving you should have some reward." Spirit said. Stein went to roll away from him once again, but Spirit grabbed the back of the chair, causing Stein to fall off, reminiscent of the last time they had a conversation similar to the one they were currently engaged in.

"You should really install a seat belt on this, Stein." Spirit said. Stein dusted himself off and sat back on his chair.

"I'm not telling you." Stein said.

"Come on, Stein." Spirit said. Stein and Spirit continued to banter until Stein finally conceded the argument.

"Fine, I'll tell you. We're having a-" Stein began, when the bells for the end of day signalled.

"Oh, I really better go. I'll see you tomorrow, Spirit." Stein said, rolling backwards towards the door.

"Are you serious?" Spirit said, Stein rolled out of the door, and began to roll down the hallway. However, he eventually stopped. Stein may not have been the emotional kind, but he wasn't heartless. He rolled back into the faculty room.

"Hey, Spirit?" Stein asked.

"Yeah?" Spirit turned around.

"If you're going to buy stuff for the baby, make sure it's pink." Stein said. Spirit smiled.

"Congratulations." Spirit said.

"Thanks." Stein nodded and rolled his way out of the faculty room. He rolled through the hallways, looking at all of the kids who walked through the hallways. They all went around in big groups, dependent on one another, and the incessant noise... it didn't make a lot of sense.

In four months, he was going to have one of them. Maybe not as big as all of the ones passing him in the hallways, but a child nonetheless.

And, somehow, for some reason, he felt like he could handle it.

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><p><strong>AN: I really liked writing that chapter :P I like the Stein/Spirit dialogues, and I've been told I write 'Have Spirit make everything awkward' scenes quite well :)**


	16. A Sudden Realisation

**A/N: Chapter 16 :) Alright, here's we go. This chapter is, once again, dedicated to the desperate for KidxMaka fics kyonkichi's kitten. Hope this sates your KidxMaka appetite for a little bit.**

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><p>Marie wasn't in at Shibusen that day. It was a Friday, the last day of the school week, and Stein was sitting in front of Class Crescent Moon. He looked at the clock.<p>

"_Ten minutes to go._" Stein thought to himself. He didn't have enough time to start the next chapter of the soul perception textbook.

"Alright, just chat amongst yourselves. If you get too loud, I _will_ hurt you." Stein said, glancing through the soul perception textbook.

"_This is... what are we teaching them these days? Have to bring in some of my old work. Maybe Marie still has some._" Stein mused to himself. Up at the desks, Kid walked over to Maka.

"Maka, may I ask you something?" Kid asked. Maka nodded as she slid out the end of her row of desks. She and Kid walked to the back of the classroom.

"What was it you wanted to ask me, Kid?" Maka asked, rubbing her wrist nervously.

"Well, you know how the end of year ball is coming up?" Kid asked. Maka looked up at him and took a long swallow.

"Uh huh..." Maka said.

"Well, I was wondering if... you would like to accompany me, perhaps." Kid asked.

"But, Kid, won't you be asymmetrical?" Maka asked.

"Oh, no, it's alright." Kid said. Maka smiled at the sweet notion of Kid putting his obsessions behind in order to take her to the dance.

"As long as, when we're moving, you walk directly behind or in front of me." Kid said. Maka smiled and shook her head.

"I'd love to go with you, Kid." Maka said. She kissed Kid twice, once on each cheek, and walked back to her desk, distinctly more scarlet than before. She virtually spirited over to Tsubaki, Liz and Patti and began to squeal. Stein, still reading the textbook, began to speak.

"Miss Albarn, I'm sure we'd all appreciate the use of our eardrums, please keep the wailing to a minimum." Stein said.

The class giggled slightly, but Maka wasn't fazed. Kid, also a slightly red colour, resumed his seat next to Soul. Soul glared at him.

"Hey, Kid, you do anything inappropriate to my meister, and I'll kill you." Soul said. Kid sighed.

"For one, I would never do anything inappropriate to Maka without her consent. And, second, I doubt that you could kill me before I could kill you." Kid said. Soul fumed.

"You bastard! I'll teach you to-" Soul stood up, but was abruptly hit in the head by a textbook. Stein glanced up.

"I'm not supposed to advocate violence, but good shot, Maka." Stein said, glancing up at the clock. A few seconds to go.

"Alright, class, you can go." Stein said.

"But-but we can't go yet, Doctor Stein, the chimes haven't-" Maka began.

"Alright, class, now you can go, and feel free to blame Maka for your lack of an early fifteen seconds." Stein said. Maka should have been angry, but she was over the moon about being asked out by a certain striking young shinigami.

Maka bounced happily out of the classroom, Tsubaki, Liz and Patti following, chattering inanely. All of the rest of the class eventually filed out. Stein got up and walked out of the classroom. He wondered to himself what Marie was doing at home.

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><p>Marie was thinking about a lot of things, being at home by herself. Marie's teaching stints at Shibusen were getting shorter and further apart. Her pregnancy wasn't an easy one, and with the backaches, nausea and everything in between, there were some days when she just couldn't get out of bed.<p>

However, that was nothing compared to the realisation that she had just come to.

She kept thinking about it, and there seemed like there was no way around it. She'd racked her brain for a solution, but she couldn't think of a single thing.

When her daughter was born, there was no way that Marie could go back to Shibusen.

Sure, she'd wanted to retire after she made Deathscythe, but now... she loved her job. And the short periods of time that Marie had been with Class Crescent Moon simply continued to give her reasons why she loved teaching. Her students were actually pretty good, apart from the occasional... well, let's just say _unnecessary tangents_ which Black*Star often went on.

Now, at this point, one would usually think daycare. But, Marie despised daycare centres. She was one of those children who was thrown into one as early as possible and kept there until kindergarten. Then, after kindergarten, it was grade school, then Shibusen.

Marie's parents were fairly distant, and their absence grew once Marie learnt that she was born a weapon, at age nine. Marie closed her eyes and remembered the day which changed her life.

* * *

><p>"<em>She's not normal." Marie's mother said. Nine-year-old Marie Mjolnir sat on the couch, listening to her parents argue.<em>

"_Well, it's not my fault!" her father said._

"_What are we going to do?" her mother replied._

"_Send her away! Lock her up, I don't know!" her father said. _

"_This hasn't happened for generations! Generations! What can we do?" her mother asked back. The slight, pale, blonde girl sat, her hair falling over her teary eyes._

"_I can understand you! I'm not a baby anymore! I don't want you to send me away! Please... please..." Marie yelled, her pleas falling on deaf ears. _

"_Quiet!" her father yelled, causing Marie to gasp._

"_Just don't send me away! Please, Daddy, don't…" Marie said._

"_Just go to your room; do your homework. We'll decide what to do with you later." her father said. Marie ran up the stairs, crying loudly, and threw herself onto her bed._

"_I didn't mean to…" Marie whispered, looking at her forearm. She closed her eyes as it transformed into a hammer in a flash of yellow light._

_That was the day that the Mjolnirs disowned their daughter._

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><p>Marie took a deep breath as she remembered that moment. There were reasons behind her idealistic views, her compassion and her willingness.<p>

Marie and Stein didn't have any other family; and all of their friends had jobs, a lot of them pertaining to worldly security. And Marie wasn't going to let Stein give up his job to look after her, because she knew, deep down, he really cared for the students. And he liked his job. She knew that he would help, that wasn't in question, but caring for their daughter was going to be a 24/7 thing.

Marie sat in the corner of hers and Stein's bedroom, tears falling freely from her eyes. Why was it that, no matter what she did, something always stood in her way? Her sobs were quiet, yet uncontrollable, in a way.

Stein walked through his front doors and closed them behind him. His house was silent, apart from the sound of crying coming from his bedroom. He walked swiftly in there, as his eyes darted to Marie.

"Marie?" Stein asked. Marie looked up.

"Stein…" Marie sobbed, as he walked over to her, sitting down next to her.

"What's wrong?" Stein asked. Marie leant against him.

"Oh, Stein." Marie said.

"What? Is it the baby?" Stein asked. Marie continued to sob for a while.

"Shh, shh..." Stein said, stroking Marie's golden hair gently. She was restless. He could sense it.

"Marie... come on, you can tell me." Stein said.

"I-I can't work... I mean, after the baby's born... she's going to take up all of my time. And I love working with the kids. And I-I just don't know what to do!" Marie said. Stein looked down at Marie, her head ducked underneath his. He held her head close to his chest, trying to calm her down. Stein and Marie worked for each other – her soul calmed his madness, and his strength calmed her. She felt safe around him.

"It's going to be alright. We're going to work something out. I'm sure we can have some sort of arrangement at Shibusen." Stein said, his voice oddly soft and tranquil. He was trying to say things which were purely positive, as not to unsettle her hormones, which would be fairly easy to do at this stage in her pregnancy. Marie looked up at him, her face now soft.

"R-Really?" Marie said.

"I'm sure we can work something out with Mira." Stein said. Marie hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Stein." Marie said. Stein chuckled at the incredibly swift change in her mood.

"_Hormones_." Stein thought. Marie's hormones were the weirdest. Stein was pretty sure that there wasn't a pregnant woman in the world that could compare to _his_ pregnant woman.

"No problem, Marie." Stein said, smirking at her.

"I'm sorry I'm like this." Marie said.

"Don't be. It'll all be worth it in the end." Stein said.

"Thank you for just... just for being here." Marie said.

"It's alright, Marie." Stein said, placing a kiss on top of her head. Marie glanced up at him, an odd yet familiar look in her eye. Her breathing got heavier, shorter and sharper.

"But..." Marie bit her bottom lip. A wave of lust fell upon her as she glanced up at the man above her. The scene was awfully reminiscent of the night she fell pregnant, but there was difference between then and now. Then, Stein could have stopped it if he'd wanted to. Now, there was _nothing_ that was going to get between Marie and the man she wanted.

"But...?" Stein asked.

"But it's no good just saying it." Marie said, standing up and sitting herself on the bed. She patted the mattress invitingly.

Stein thought something to himself as he went to tend to the beckoning Marie.

Maybe her hormones weren't so bad after all.

**A/N: Oh, horny Marie, you so fun to write.  
>O.o did I just type that out loud?<br>Anyway... :D See you next chapter!**

**Oh, and, just a little note to those who are complaining about the KidxMaka, I mean, I'm sorry? This is a SteinxMarie story, I figured you'd just read for that pairing but still. Saying that it 'ruined the story' is a bit much, don't you think? If it really bothers you that much, well, then... I really can't come up with anything. I ship KidxMaka. It's a part of the story, it's not a _big_ part of the story, so, if you can't ignore it and actually take this _SteinxMarie_ fic for what it is, then so be it. **


	17. Three Little Words

**A/N: SO, this was one of the driving ideas that made me want to write this story. It was originally be a one-shot, but I wanted to integrate it into something bigger. So, this chapter is dedicated to... this chapter :P Warning, the end is fluffy. **

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><p>It took every ounce of pleading, negotiation and deception in order for Stein to let Marie go to Shibusen that day. She managed to bribe him by bringing in her old workbooks with exercises in them about the topic which the soul perception textbook covered poorly.<p>

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Stein asked as Marie walked into the classroom.

"Yes, Stein." Marie smiled.

"And you're not going to do anything too strenuous?"

"No, I'm not, Stein. Especially with you hanging around me all day." Marie smirked, walking over to Stein and kissing him on the cheek.

That was becoming an increasingly difficult feat, one, because it was becoming difficult for Marie to stand on tip-toes, and two, because it was hard for Marie to stand in front of anyone. Her bump was well and truly past obvious now.

The students began to file into the classroom, a lot of the students smiling when they saw Marie once again in the classroom. However, a lot of them were also unaware that Marie was pregnant. Even fewer were aware that Stein and Marie were together.

After all of the students filed in, the whispers began. Both Stein and Marie overheard a lot of them. After a while of trying and failing to get their attention with normal morning duties, Marie gave up.

"Stein?" Marie asked.

"Class!" Stein yelled. The room fell deathly silent.

"Thank you." Marie smiled sweetly. Stein nodded and sat back down on his chair, crossing his arms.

"Okay, class. I don't know how long I'm going to be back, so let me set the record straight." Marie said. The class seemed to listen more intently after that.

"Okay. In case you didn't notice, I am pregnant. Not fat, _pregnant_." Marie pronounced, very clearly. Stein stifled a chuckle.

"To dispel any rumours you may hear, yes, Doctor Stein and I are together." Marie said. Stein's eyes widened. The class chattered for a while, devouring the gossip hanging in the air.

"So, to recap, I'm pregnant, it's his fault." Marie said. Her personality had changed slightly due to the pregnancy. She had a slight cheek about her now, which earned her some respect from even the toughest of students. Stein, however, was slightly embarrassed.

"Marie, really?" Stein asked.

"Stein, if there's one thing I've learn here, it's that you've got to be frank with these students." Marie said. Stein shook his head and smirked.

"Alright, class, I've looked at the soul perception textbook, and the next chapter is just cr- well, I'm teaching you slightly differently." Stein said. Maka couldn't help but protest.

"But, Doctor Stein, we have to learn from the curriculum set by Shinigami-sama!" Maka exclaimed, standing from her seat.

"Yes, well, you aren't the ones who'll get in trouble for it. Plus, we're learning what I, Marie-sensei and even your father learnt at school." Stein said. Maka reluctantly sat down. She wasn't sure whether the fact that her father had learnt the same lessons was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Alright, class, we're going to be learning about the different types of..." Stein started, flipping through Marie's old workbooks to the pages Marie had marked. He looked down at the margin of the page. His eyes widened. He had to continue with the class, so, to cover himself, he coughed.

"Sorry. Alright, today we'll be learning about the different types of connections you may come across when using soul perception." Stein said. He continued to conduct the lesson out of Marie's workbook, his eyes continually drifting over to the drawings in the border.

When he had finished, Marie took another one of her textbooks and began the lesson on soul wavelengths.

While she was doing this, Stein looked down at the page he was teaching from before. He read through Marie's notes. But the writing in the border made him feel so stupid.

In the border, in Marie's writing, was something from about fifteen years ago. Fifteen years and he hadn't noticed. Marie had written "Mrs Marie Stein" in her border, surrounded by love hearts, over and over again.

What really floored Stein was the way that Marie hadn't noticed it when she'd marked the page. This was to sort of thing that struck Stein as being on Marie's 'Never, ever let Stein see this' list, a list which he was sure she possessed.

"Alright, so, that concludes this lesson. I'll see you after break." Marie said. The students filed out the classroom and Marie sat down, slightly exhausted but mostly just glad that she was back teaching.

Seeing the look on Marie's face, Stein decided not to question her about the book until they got home. He saw how happy teaching made Marie. He just wondered how he could see that and not see something like Marie's feelings for him when they were at Shibusen.

* * *

><p>After a rather uneventful day, Stein and Marie headed back home. Marie flopped onto the couch. Stein sat across from her, holding her workbook.<p>

"You know your workbook I was teaching out of today?" Stein asked.

"Yeah?" Marie asked.

"Well, I was looking through it... and I read the border." Stein said. Marie's head immediately shot straight up and her eyes widened.

"You did what now?" Marie said.

"I read the border." Stein said, handing Marie the book. She snatched it from him and opened it.

"How did I not remember this? Oh, lord..." Marie said, quietly glancing at the pages.

"Marie..." Stein said. Marie closed her eyes in embarrassment. Stein went over and sat next to Marie, pulling her over to lean on his chest.

"It's alright, Marie. I am ruggedly handsome." Stein chuckled.

"Oh, shush." Marie said.

"Sorry." Stein said. Marie hugged him tightly.

"I liked you... for a _really _long time." Marie said.

"Before we graduated?" Stein asked. Stein and Marie had been together before this, but it was over a decade ago.

"_Way_ before we graduated. Try when I first met you." Marie said, slightly embarrassed. Stein was slightly shocked.

"What?" Stein asked.

"When we started at Shibusen, I liked you. I just wasn't drunk enough to tell you until our last end of year dance." Marie said, chuckling slightly.

"Marie... I'm sorry." Stein said.

"Well, you never were the emotional type." Marie said. Stein took her exercise book from her and opened it up.

"It's everywhere, Marie." Stein smirked.

"Never was one to do things by halves." Marie said, stretching slightly. Stein looked down at her.

"You tired?" Stein asked. Marie slid down onto Stein's lap.

"I'm pregnant. I'm always tired." Marie said, curling up into a little ball. Stein smiled at her, taking off his lab coat and draping it over Marie.

"Better?" Stein asked.

"Yeah. Thank you." Marie said.

"That's alright." Stein said, his hand caressing the back of Marie's head.

She seemed so peaceful. Marie was gorgeous when she slept, the way her hair fell across her head, the way her eyelids so delicately closed over her dark golden eyes.

The woman below him was carrying his child. His little girl. Goodness, when he put it like that, it seemed so simple. He hoped that his daughter wouldn't ever have to know the complexities of the world until they actually applied to her. Stein was one of those people who always got caught up in unnecessary turmoil.

After a couple of minutes, Marie spoke up.

"Stein?" Marie asked.

"Yes, Marie?" Stein asked.

"I meant what I said." Marie said, quietly.

"You what?" Stein asked. Marie turned to look Stein straight in the eye.

"I do..." Marie said, swallowing hard.

"You do what?" Stein asked.

"I do love you, Stein." Marie said. Stein stalled for a second, trying to process what Marie had just said. He was mainly trying to work out why in the world someone would love him.

"Do-do you..." Marie said, apprehensively. And, for the first time, Stein knew that he could respond.

"Yes." Stein said, confidently. Marie took a deep breath out.

"I'm glad." Marie said. Stein acknowledged the difficulty in responding to the statement and nodded. Marie turned back over, huddling close to Stein's chest.

To think that, just a few short months ago, Stein wasn't even able to comprehend the emotion that people called 'love.' But now... lord; now he was in it. And, just before she fell back to sleep, Stein said just one thing.

"I love you, Marie."

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><p><strong>AN: Oh, the brilliance of formulating love in just 27,000 words. **


	18. A Jarring Shock

**A/N: Alright, here we are, 18 chapters down... some more to go. This chapter is dedicated to all of the Aussie readers :) This chapter is ever-so-slightly word vomit. This chapter isn't that fluffy, actually :o I know, right? This chapter is slightly heavier than the others. If you're really squeamish, then beware. It mightn't be that bad, but still. **

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><p>Marie was sitting on the couch at home, her feet up on the arm, feeling awfully mediocre. She couldn't make the feeling in the pit of her stomach go away, no matter how hard she tried. It wasn't sickness, she didn't feel nauseous, but there was something.<p>

She tried getting up and walking, she tried stretching, she tried eating, drinking water, she tried everything she could think of. It was one of the rare days where she was glad she wasn't teaching at Shibusen, and she had actually not gone of her own volition. She didn't get out of bed until ten, by which time Stein was out and teaching.

Marie sighed, and laid her hands on her ever-expanding bump.

Marie was now 5 and a half months pregnant, and to say she was showing was an understatement. Marie wasn't big, by any stretch of the imagination, but her wide-set hips and general figure meant that hiding a baby bump wasn't going to be an option. Not that she wanted to anymore.

Stein and Marie had finally come to a point where they were ready to settle down. Hell, they'd told each other they loved one another. They were ready for whatever this little baby girl was going to throw at them. Well, as ready as they'd ever be, anyway.

Marie couldn't settle down anywhere. She didn't know what it was. She shifted herself off the couch, carefully, and went over to the bathroom. She stuck her hand into the shower, and turned on the hot water tap.

Maybe a shower would shift the feeling.

Meanwhile, Stein was sitting in front of the class watching Black*Star and Ox practise sparring one another.

"I will destroy you!" Black*Star said, adopting a threatening stance. Stein rolled himself exasperatedly between the two.

"Maybe if you spent less time telling him and more time actually destroying him, we'd get somewhere with your martial arts skills." Stein said, calmly. He stood up from his chair and pushed it aside.

"You can sit down, Ox." Stein said. Ox nodded and walked back over to his seat.

"Alright, Black*Star. Hit me." Stein said, adopting a defensive stance.

"I will destroy you easily! Because you are little and I am-" Stein hit Black*Star in the lower abdomen, causing him to spin around involuntarily. Stein then struck Black*Star in the kidneys, causing him to fall over in a heap. Black*Star, now sufficiently winded, turned himself over and glared at Stein.

"_Bastard._" Black*Star said under his breath.

"I heard that." Stein said, glaring at the battered and bruised student. Black*Star went to adjust himself, to no avail.

"Alright, class, if you ever have an opponent as egomaniacal as Black*Star over here, make sure to take advantage of your time effectively." Stein said.

Meanwhile, Marie was showering, the shower failing to eradicate the feeling in her stomach. She rinsed off her face, which was still slightly flushed. As she looked down onto the grey shower floor, she saw specks of something. She looked more closely.

It was blood.

Marie began to freak out. She hadn't been shaving, so she couldn't have cut herself. She looked around, on her arms, legs, everywhere, for a cut, a scratch, a scrape; anything that'd explain the blood. She couldn't find any. Marie went weak at the knees. She began to shake uncontrollably. She rinsed the blood down the drain and turned the taps off. She walked over and grabbed a towel. She looked in the mirror, tears involuntarily falling from her eyes.

She walked into the bedroom, took out an old jumper and a pair of black tracksuit pants. She walked out into the living room and sat down on the couch next to the telephone. She wasn't supposed to be bleeding. She had heard anything about bleeding during pregnancy being good. She nervously dialled Naigus' extension at Shibusen. Every ring of the phone seemed to take forever. Finally, she heard a familiar voice.

"Mira Naigus, Shibusen." Naigus said.

"Mira..." Marie sobbed.

"Marie? What's wrong?" Naigus asked.

"Mira... I'm bleeding." Marie cried.

"Marie... how bad is it?" Naigus asked.

"It's just spots... it's not too bad... but I don't know what to do!" Marie sniffed.

"Alright, we should go to the hospital. It's probably nothing, but we should go, just in case. It's only because you're second trimester." Naigus said.

"I-I know... can you get Franken home?" Marie said, shakily.

"I'll drive him back to your place and I'll come with you, alright?" Naigus asked.

"Uh huh..." Marie said, still shaking.

"I'll get Sid to take Franken's classes. Sit tight, alright, Marie? Make sure you monitor the bleeding. If it gets worse, call an ambulance, alright?" Naigus said.

"I will... Mira, I'm so scared!" Marie said.

"I will be there as soon as I can." Naigus said. Marie hung up the phone and continued to shake.

Naigus ran down the hallways until she got to Class Crescent Moon. She had picked up Sid on the way, and had told him what had happened. She looked in the classroom, where Black*Star was making his way back to his seat.

"Franken." Naigus said. Sid walked into the classroom.

"Mira?" Stein asked. Naigus walked over to him as they both turned away from the class. The class all looked down intently.

"Class, this had nothing to do with you. Now get back to your work, be persistent. That's the kind of man I was." Sid said. The class did as they were told.

"Franken, we have to go. Sid'll take your class but we have to leave now." Naigus said, grabbing Stein's arm and walking out of the classroom with him.

"What... where are we going, Mira?" Stein asked.

"It's Marie." Naigus said, still walking.

"What... what's wrong?" Stein asked.

"She is bleeding and we have to take her to the hospital. You're coming with me, we're going to pick her up and take her there." Naigus said.

"What?" Stein fretted.

"Don't you freak out on me now, Franken." Naigus said.

"Why didn't she just get an ambulance?" Stein asked, walking more quickly now.

"Because I didn't want to freak her out more than I had to. I told her that, if it gets worse, she has to call an ambulance, alright?" Naigus said as she and Stein made it to the parking lot. Naigus walked over to her car, taking out her keys and her mobile phone. She threw the phone over to Stein.

"Call her." Naigus said, getting into the driver's seat of the car. Stein sat in the passenger's seat, closing the door and dialling his home phone number. After a couple of rings, Marie picked up, her voice shaky and small.

"H-Hello?" she said, weakly.

"Marie." Stein said, quietly.

"Stein..." Marie said, shakily, beginning to cry.

"It's alright, Marie, we're on our way." Stein said, trying to calm Marie.

"O-Okay..." Marie said, still sobbing. Stein continued to try to sedate Marie.

"Shh, shh..." Stein said, over and over again. Marie held the receiver tight to her ear, closed her eyes tightly and pretended that Stein was right there...right there with her, holding her, keeping her safe.

"Please hurry." Marie said in barely a whisper.

"We will." Stein said, quietly.

"Don't hang up." Marie begged.

"I won't." Stein said. He leant his head against the window of the car and took a deep breath out. Naigus saw him in her peripheral vision. She took one of her hands off the wheel and placed it on Stein's shoulder.

"She's going to be alright, you know." Naigus said.

"I know." Stein said. It took about ten more minutes of driving to get back to Stein's laboratory. Once they did, Naigus spoke again.

"Alright, I'll stay here, you go and get her." Naigus said. Stein gave Naigus back her mobile phone and got out of the car. He sped up the stairs and opened his doors. Marie was sitting, curled up, on the couch.

"Stein." Marie whimpered.

"Marie. Come on, we're going to the hospital, alright?" Stein said. Marie simply nodded. Stein wrapped his arm around Marie's waist as she put her arm around his waist. She leant on him heavily.

"Does it hurt?" Stein asked. Marie shook her head.

"No." Marie said, breathily.

"Alright. You're going to be fine." Stein said.

"I'm just so scared, Franken." Marie whispered, shakily. Stein looked down at her and replied.

"I know, Marie. So am I."

**A/N: Oooh, scary stuff. Uhm... so, yeah. That's really all I have to say on the matter.**


	19. The Awkward Conversation

**A/N: Alright, so this chapter is dedicated to RedAsBlood, who, like me, wondered what her life was going to be like after Soul Eater was over. I survive on fanfiction. Fanfiction and TIGER BLOOD. Winning. **

**WARNING: This chapter has sexual references and some quite strong medical themes. **

**If you're not comfortable with this, then just skip this chapter, and I'll put what happens to Marie in the A/N of the next chapter. I recommend skipping this chapter if you can't read the word 'sex' without cringing.**

**These are the unnecessary things you learn being the daughter of a nurse. **

* * *

><p>Stein sat on the edge of the chair, next to Marie. Marie was asleep on the hospital bed, hooked up to an IV drip and several monitors. Marie was tired due to the immense stress that had been put on her in the last few hours. He had a hold of her hand, his head dropped. The room was relatively dull, with little movement outside. Eventually, Doctor Katsuma walked into the room. She glanced over at Marie.<p>

"Well, I hear we've had a bad day." Doctor Katsuma said.

"We have indeed." Stein said, quietly. Marie stirred, opening her eyes slightly.

"Stein? Oh, Doctor Katsuma, hello." Marie said. She was slightly less nervous now, but she still had a strong grip on Stein's hand.

"Hi, Marie. How are you feeling now? Any pain?" Doctor Katsuma asked, walking over to a monitor and checking it.

"No." Marie said.

"That's good. Now, I just have to ask you some questions." Doctor Katsuma said, pulling up a chair and pulling out a clipboard.

"Alright." Marie said.

"Okay, Marie, so, when did the bleeding start?" Doctor Katsuma asked.

"I-I noticed it around eleven this morning." Marie said.

"Okay... has it gotten worse at all?" Doctor Katsuma asked Marie, writing on her clipboard.

"N-No, it hasn't." Marie said.

"Good... how bad was it when you noticed it?" Doctor Katsuma asked.

"It was just spotting." Marie said. Doctor Katsuma nodded.

"Alright. Well, it sounds to me like you have a slightly inflamed cervix. We'll have to check, but we can give you something which should stop the bleeding." Doctor Katsuma said.

"A-And the baby will be okay?" Marie asked.

"The baby will be just fine. I'm just going to take you off to have an exam, alright?" Doctor Katsuma said. A nurse brought in a wheelchair, which Marie promptly sat in. Stein let go of Marie's hand as she was wheeled off. While Marie was gone, Naigus came back.

"Hey, where's she gone?" Naigus asked.

"Exam." Stein said.

"Oh, lady parts exam, joy." Naigus said.

"Uh...yeah." Stein said. Naigus smirked.

"So, what do they think it is?" Naigus asked.

"Cervical inflammation." Stein said. Naigus laughed.

"Really?" Naigus asked.

"Yes, Mira. Really." Stein said.

"You know the main reason cervical inflammation is discovered, right?" Naigus asked.

"Yes, I'm fully aware." Stein said.

"So, Marie's one of those ravenous pregnant women, eh?" Naigus asked.

"Wh-" Stein began as Doctor Katsuma wheeled Marie back into the room.

"I'll be back in a little while, okay?" Naigus said, walking out the door. Marie nodded.

"Alright, so it is a slight cervical inflammation, so, we'll get you on some pregnancy safe anti-inflammatories." Doctor Katsuma said. Marie nodded once again and got back into the bed.

"There are just a couple more questions I have to ask both of you." Doctor Katsuma said. Stein looked over at her. He was a doctor; he knew the questions that were coming next. Oh, the lashing he was going to get from Marie.

"Okay, Marie, when was the last time you and Franken engaged in sexual intercourse?" Doctor Katsuma asked. Stein coughed slightly. Sure, he was a doctor, but he wasn't used to being around other ones who were so... abrupt.

"Oh...uh... that would have been... last night... right?" Marie mumbled as she looked over at Stein, biting her lip slightly. He dropped his head into his hands.

"Sounds about right." Stein said, his voice muffled by his hands.

"I expected that." Doctor Katsuma said, jotting notes down on her clipboard.

"You're going to be the death of me, Doctor Katsuma." Stein said.

"I'm under oath to tell my patients the truth, Doctor Stein." Doctor Katsuma replied.

"I know, I know, get on with it." Stein said, exasperatingly sitting back in his chair.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about, Doctor Stein. In fact, your choice to continue intimacies whilst Marie is pregnant is quite good for the baby. The hormone rush provided during orgasm..." Doctor Katsuma started.

"Oh, good lord." Stein said, his head falling into his hands.

"It's perfectly natural, Stein." Marie said, squeezing his hand tighter.

"Now you're sounding like Spirit." Stein said.

"Anyway... The only reason I'm bringing this up is because... well, the reason we usually discover cervical inflammations is through bleeding, usually triggered by intercourse during pregnancy." Doctor Katsuma said.

"Really?" Marie asked.

"Well, you've got one powerful lover on your hands, that's for sure." Doctor Katsuma said.

"Are you serious? This day cannot get any worse." Stein exclaimed.

"And, like I said, it's fine to have sex during pregnancy, but you've gotta be gentle with her." Doctor Katsuma said to Stein.

"I lied. It just did." Stein said.

"It's alright, Stein." Marie said, taking Stein's hand. Marie then turned to Doctor Katsuma.

"It's not his fault. Sometimes, gentle sex just doesn't cut it for me." Marie said.

"Oh, good Lord, what is it with you women?" Stein asked.

"I understand, Marie. So, we'll keep you in overnight, just to monitor you, alright?" Doctor Katsuma asked.

"Okay. Thank you, Doctor Katsuma." Marie said.

"Wait, what does she mean she 'understands'?" Stein said to himself.

"No problems." Doctor Katsuma said back. She began to walk out the door, but stopped at the door frame and turned around.

"And, Doctor Stein?" Doctor Katsuma asked.

"Yes?" Stein asked back.

"Could you try to keep your hands off her tonight?" Doctor Katsuma asked back. Stein dropped his head into his hands once again. Doctor Katsuma smiled and left the room. Sometimes, Doctor Katsuma seemed more sadistic than Stein used to be.

"You know, she makes me seem like I'm some sort of sex-crazed maniac." Stein said.

"It's alright, Stein." Marie said. Stein took his head out of his hands.

"Wait a second. Now's the part where you're supposed to rip the living daylights out of me for freaking you out like this." Stein said.

"Well, if you hadn't... _you know_... then we wouldn't have found out about this, would we?" Marie asked.

"No... No, I suppose not." Stein said. Marie smiled, taking hold of Stein's hand. She looked down at her stomach.

"Alright now, baby, you've gotta stop scaring us like this, okay?" Marie asked.

"It's not like she's going to respond." Stein said.

"Yeah... but one day, she'll be able to." Marie said. Naigus once again walked into their room.

"Hey, you two, I'm going to go; everything here alright?" Naigus asked.

"Yeah. We're alright." Marie said.

"So, it was just a cervical inflammation?" Naigus asked.

"Yeah, thank goodness." Marie said, smiling. Naigus walked over to Marie's bedside. She turned to Stein.

"You dog." Naigus said, punching Stein in the arm.

"Thank you... so much." Stein said, sarcastically.

"Alright. Goodnight, Marie. I'm glad everything's okay." Naigus said.

"Thank you, Mira." Marie said.

"You too, Franken." Naigus said. Stein nodded as Naigus left them.

"Don't worry about what Doctor Katsuma said, Stein." Marie said.

"Yeah? Why not?" Stein asked.

"Because you aren't sleeping with her. You're sleeping with _me_." Marie said, smiling as she squeezed Stein hand tight.

She took his hand and placed it on her stomach, lacing her fingers in between his. Stein looked at Marie, nothing but the light covering of hospital blanket keeping her warm. He stood up and sat himself next to Marie, laying his head down on the pillow next to her. He gently curled his body around Marie's, causing her to sigh contently.

"Hello." Marie said, quietly.

"Hi." Stein said, closing his eyes, his arms firmly wrapped around Marie's bump. And the two simply laid there, in safe silence, spooning like there was nobody else in the world.

**A/N: Alright, so that chapter was actually based on real events... well, a real conversation my friend overheard between her cousin and her doctor. She was, no joke, sitting there, while her cousin's doctor explained pregnant sex to them. High point of her life, I must say. Doctor Katsuma's not very professional, is she? Just thought of that... Oh well.**


	20. Fun and Festivities

**A/N: Woot! Chapter 20! Congratulations on reading this far! Just for this, you get... a virtual hug. **

**As promised, I'll put a recap of last chapter in here without all of the...details. Marie is fine and her baby's going to be fine. That's about all.**

**Oh, and kyonkichi's kitten may notice a little nod to the scarring of a certain weapon from one of her stories in here. This chapter contains KidxMaka (just for you, Ellie :P) and Black*StarxTsubaki.**

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><p>"You ready, Marie?" Stein asked from the lounge room. His now 6-month-pregnant partner apprehensively replied.<p>

"Y-Yes..." Marie said, sniffling. Stein cocked an eyebrow at the response and decided to investigate.

"What's wrong?" Stein asked, walking over to his bedroom. He saw Marie sitting on the bed, crying. The hormones had picked a fantastic time to kick in. Stein and Marie were just about to go and chaperone the end of year Shibusen dance. Stein went to sit down next to Marie, putting his arm around her.

"Do... Do you think I'm _ugly_?" Marie asked, looking Stein in the eyes. Marie didn't have her eyepatch on, so he could see both of her deep golden eyes. They were welling with tears and slightly red.

"No... of course I don't. Why would you say that?" Stein said, placing his hands on top of Marie's.

"I...I don't know. I just feel so..." Marie started, when she collapsed onto Stein, sobbing.

"Hey... hey, hey, hey... you look at me. You aren't ugly. You're beautiful." Stein said, placing his hand underneath Marie's chin and pulling it up.

"R-Really?" Marie asked.

"Of course. Now, come on, we don't want to be late. Plus, you've got to say goodbye to all of the students for a little while." Stein said. Marie was moving into the third trimester of her pregnancy, and the fact that there was only two weeks of school left meant that there was no point in Marie going back to teach.

"Alright." Marie said, standing up and brushing down her dress. It was a long, black dress which sat over her bump. The dress was light and silky, with the neckline plunging down to a certain pair of assets which were enhanced by Marie's pregnancy.

"Hello." Stein said, trying to avert his eyes.

"What?" Marie asked.

"Nothing. Come on, let's go." Stein said, taking Marie's arm and walking out of the house.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, a nervous shinigami was sitting in the living room of Death Mansion, being stared down by Soul, Spirit and Black*Star. He'd never felt so scared in his own home. His eyes darted for a while, before he heard running through the kitchen.<p>

"Kid, get over here!" Liz exclaimed. Kid stood up, expelled a breath and walked over to the base of the stairs. He looked up as Maka began to make her way down the staircase. She wore a long red dress, which puffed out slightly at the base. Her hair, symmetrical as ever, was on top of her head in a bun. She smiled as she walked delicately down the stairs, Tsubaki behind her and Patti in front.

"_Maka_!" Spirit said, bounding over to the bottom of the staircase. Soul grabbed him by the collar of his jacket.

"This is not a moment for you to barge in on." Soul said.

Maka was blushing slightly as she made her way to the bottom of the stairs.

"Maka... you're..." Kid started.

"I know! She's gorgeous, isn't she Kid? Isn't she?" Patti asked, excitedly.

"Yes... yes, she is." Kid said, taking both of Maka's hands.

"You're looking handsome tonight, Kid." Maka said, bashfully. Kid pulled out a pair of corsages, matching, of course, and slid them onto Maka's wrists.

"Thank you, Kid. They're gorgeous." Maka said, kissing Kid on both cheeks. Spirit was fuming in the background.

"Calm down, old man." Soul said.

"Why you..." Spirit started.

"Are we all ready to go?" Kid asked. The group nodded as Maka walked behind Kid, Tsubaki walked next to Black*Star, Liz and Patti stood together whilst Soul, in a very cool fashion, stood by himself. They all proceeded to walk outside to a limousine that Kid had booked. It was awfully convenient having the most important person in Death City as your father. And so, the buzzed teenagers and one disgruntled redhead all piled into the limousine, ready to head back for a night of fun, festivities and maybe, if some of them were lucky, romance.

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><p>Stein and Marie stood outside the main doors of Shibusen as the final touches were being put on the ballroom. Marie was swapping from foot to foot, trying to stay composed. Stein sniggered slightly.<p>

"Marie..." Stein said.

"Uh huh?" Marie said, uneasily.

"You can go to the bathroom. There aren't any students here yet." Stein said.

"But Shinigami-sama said that we had to stay here!" Marie exclaimed.

"I'm sure he'll understand." Stein said. Marie's eyes darted, nervously.

"I'll be back!" Marie said, walking swiftly to the bathroom. Stein chuckled slightly as he leant himself against the front wall of Shibusen. Sid walked up the stairs and began to talk to Stein.

"You got stuck on chaperone duty, too?" Sid asked.

"I did indeed. Door duty for the first half of the night, floor duty for the second half. You?" Stein asked.

"Oh, you got it lucky. I got grounds duty for the first half of the night, then bathroom duty second half." Sid said. Stein grimaced slightly.

"Who'd you piss off?" Stein asked.

"Not sure. Did Marie get off, you know, 'cause of the whole pregnant thing?" Sid asked.

"Nope. She's got the same as me. We're too short on teachers to worry about the safety of unborn children." Stein said. Sid chuckled slightly.

"Fair enough. Well, I'd better go and start patrolling. That's the kind of man I was." Sid said. Stein nodded and said goodbye to Sid. Eventually, Marie got back.

"Better?" Stein asked. Marie nodded. Stein smirked slightly and they began to watch students pour in. They saw a lot of their students, such as Maka and Kid, who seemed very happy to be there together.

The first half of the dance was rather uneventful, with most of the kids keeping their secret alcohol hidden until the swap over of teachers. However, some students had jumped the gun and had already begun the festivities that usually happen at the end of the night.

* * *

><p>"So <em>help me!<em> If you do not stop that _right now_, I'll-"

"Marie, come on. Here, I need you to store this for a student." Stein said, walking up behind his fuming partner. Marie turned to him, a scowl on her face, and took the item from Stein. She huffed slightly as she walked off, coming off the slope of her pregnant rage. Stein looked at the students.

"Doctor, we didn't do anything, we just-"

"I know, I know. Just keep out of her way." Stein said, nodding knowingly at the students who had just come across the Marie he'd had to deal with countless times during her pregnancy. The students scuttled off as Stein walked the other way down the corridor.

Marie was wandering through the hallways of Shibusen, looking for a safe place to store the item for the student. Her rage had calmed now, having turned back into the Marie most of the Shibusen students knew and loved. She decided that the infirmary was best; she had a spare key of Stein's for the filing cabinet. She went and opened the door of the infirmary, and walked in without even looking.

"Ah!" a female voice screamed. She looked to her left as two familiar faces from her class; one with distinct blue hair and the other with black hair as long as her last name. The taller girl had the sheets pulled up to her chin, which covered up the entire face of the shorter boy next to her.

"Tsubaki! Black*Star! Oh, I was just... I'm gonna put this... right here... uh... I'm going to go." Marie said, placing the student's belongings on top of the filing cabinet and rushing out the door. She shut the door and took a deep breath out. A lightbulb went off in her head. She opened the door, her eyes closed tightly, and made sure she was fulfilling her duty of care.

"If you two are going to do this, use protection." Marie said, before shutting the door and running out of the hallway. Well, it was more like a waddle, but the sentiment was there. Marie came out onto the ballroom floor, her face in a blush. She went over to Stein and poked him in the arm.

"Where have you been?" Stein asked. Marie grabbed Stein's wrist and pulled him out of into the hallway.

"Did you know that students in our class are having sex?" Marie said. Unfortunately, she didn't notice the other people in the hallways. After several odd looks, Stein glanced down at Marie.

"Could you keep it down?" Stein asked.

"But..." Marie said.

"Marie, they're teenagers, they do nothing but eat, sleep and have sex." Stein said.

"But... but it was... I went into the infirmary, and..." Marie said.

"Marie, you _never_ go into the infirmary at Shibusen dances. That hasn't changed since we went here." Stein said.

"But it was Black*Star and Tsubaki! They're... they're innocent! They're naive! Well, they should be, at their ages!" Marie exclaimed.

"Marie, you've got to calm down." Stein said.

"But..." Marie said.

"Marie. You're responsible for their educations, nothing else. What goes on under the thin sheets of the infirmary at Shibusen dances stays there. Well, until someone does the laundry, anyways." Stein said. Marie was still slightly stressed. Stein stood behind her, put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her out onto the dance floor. He spun her around and pulled her close, wrapping his hands around her ever-expanding waist. Marie leant her head on Stein's chest, a feat which she could only just achieve, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Now, will you calm down?" Stein asked. Marie snuggled her head into Stein's chest, and under his arm, could make out the faint outline of young love blossoming, in a way less... graphic than Black*Star and Tsubaki's.

Maka and Kid, who had been standing out on the balcony for a good ten minutes, had finally broken the ice and kissed each other. Marie smiled at the notion that teenagers could still fall in love without it being overly physical. The two pulled away.

"That was nice, Kid." Maka said.

"It was." Kid said, taking both of Maka's hands.

"See, not all teenagers are the same." Stein said, having noticed Maka and Kid as well. Marie closed her eyes, trying to remember what her dances were like. She did remember that she and Stein were more like Tsubaki and Black*Star than Maka and Kid at their school dances; well, their last school dance, anyway. What really made her happy was the notion that even though she'd changed, even though he'd changed, they were together.

Marie closed her eyes contently and lost herself in Stein's arms.

**A/N: Oh, Tsubaki and Black*Star sexytimes. If you want to know what fic of kyonkichi's kitten I'm referring to, it's Symmetrical Love, which is a sequel to her fic Symmetrical Beauty. The chapter in reference is chapter 4. Sexy rumpuses are inadvertently walked in on. That's all you get to know without reading. Come on. Reeeead it. Reeeead the series. There's a fourth story there now. Reeeead it.**


	21. So Many Options

**A/N: Here we are, chapter 21, which is coincidentally, a number which has nothing to do with anything. This chapter has nods to some of my friends, the ones who I could find the meanings of their names, anyway. Just to say, in case they read this fic, that if I don't use your name as the final baby's name, don't take the reason I don't use it as a comment on your personality! **

* * *

><p>Although Marie and Stein were two very different people, they tended to agree on things. There was one thing, however, on which they couldn't come to a consensus. They weren't arguing, as such, but they just couldn't work out something that they both agreed on.<p>

"What about Jessica?" Marie asked, pulling back the covers and slipping into bed, picking up the book "Sugar, Spice and All Things Nice: Baby Names for Girls."

"If I had a dollar for every Jessica at Shibusen, I could afford to hire someone to pick a name _for_ us." Stein said, pulling back the covers and getting into bed, next to Marie.

"I suppose... You know, this is ridiculous. Why does it have to be so difficult?" Marie said, exasperatedly. Stein pulled her close to him, putting his arm around her.

"Because...you're choosing the name which a human life is branded with their entire life. It's not supposed to be easy." Stein said, taking the book out of Marie's hands. He did have to question; why the hell _did _they make everything about pregnancy so stressful? Had they never heard the phrase 'don't prod the bear?'

"It's stupid." Marie said, pouting slightly and crossing her arms. Stein could tell Marie was getting tired. She got childish when she got tired.

"Come on, it's not that bad." Stein chuckled, pulling the covers up over Marie's shoulders.

"It is!" Marie said, infuriatedly. Stein looked down at the book, flicking to one of the first few pages.

"What about Amy? It says here it means 'beloved.'" Stein said. Marie shuddered.

"I knew an Amy back in grade school." Marie said.

"Oh, what was she like?" Stein asked.

"She ate glue." Marie said back. Stein raised an eyebrow.

"All the best ate glue." Stein said.

"Didn't you eat glue on a dare?" Marie asked. Stein's eyes darted.

"Moving on... what about Anne? It means 'grace.'" Stein said.

"No." Marie shook her head. Marie took the book back and flicked further through the book.

"How about Rachael? It says here it means 'innocent as a lamb.'" Marie said.

"'Innocent as a lamb' doesn't get you through this world." Stein said. Marie looked up at him.

"That's not nice! Innocence is a virtue very few possess. Plus, I know some Rachael's who are far from innocent." Stein looked down at the page Marie had accidentally flicked to.

"Here, what about Maddie? It means..." Stein said, but was cut off by Marie's exclamation.

"_Unmarried maiden?_ I am not condemning our daughter to never be married." Marie said.

"Marie, it's just a name. I'm sure there are plenty of Maddie's who are happily married. Anyway, our life isn't that bad, right, happily unmarried?" Stein said.

"No, it's not bad, it's very nice... but I don't want to set her up like that." Marie said.

"Alright, alright, that's fine." Stein said.

"I don't know, Stein. What are we going to do, then?"Marie asked.

"Well, I don't think we've quite exhausted all of our options yet. Ah, here, what about Victoria? It means 'victory.' How's that for setting her up?" Stein asked.

"No. No way. Because then people will call her Vicki. And I will _not_ have that." Marie said, adamantly.

"Fair enough." Stein said, some of Marie's overtired logic actually making sense to him. Marie yawned as she continued to flip through the book.

"What about...what about..." Marie said, yawns breaking up her words. Stein took the book off of her.

"You're tired. Come on, rest. You don't want to be picking names if you're this tired. Now, sleep." Stein commanded, placing the book on his side table and taking off his glasses.

"Fine." Marie said, reluctantly laying down and pulling the covers over herself. She snivelled slightly. Stein looked over at her. He laid down next to her, pulling her close to him.

"It's alright, Marie. We'll get there eventually." Stein said.

"I-I know... it's just..." Marie started.

"Just what?" Stein asked, softly.

"It's just... you see all of these ordinary mothers who've had names picked out for as long as they can remember. And I.. I just have no idea." Marie said.

"Well... you're hardly going to be an ordinary mother, are you?" Stein asked. Marie raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Marie asked.

"You're going to be extraordinary." Stein said. Marie smiled.

"Shut up." Marie blushed.

"What? I was just trying to be nice." Stein said.

"Yeah, well you can be nice without talking." Marie said. Stein smirked, running his hand up and down Marie's side.

"What are you saying, Marie?" Stein asked, suggestively.

"You come anywhere near me with that and I break it off." Marie said, snuggling close to her pillow. Stein chuckled slightly, placing his hands behind his head.

"I love you too." Stein smirked to himself. Marie bit her bottom lip. She felt bad.

"I do love you." Marie said, leaning over slightly and kissing him on the cheek. Stein smirked at her, curling his body around her again. He ran his hand around Marie's hips.

"That doesn't mean I was joking." Marie said.

"Sorry." Stein said, taking his hand and placing it more chastely on her stomach. Marie giggled slightly before falling asleep.

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><p>The next morning, a Saturday, Stein awoke to the sound of running water. He sat up and scratched his head. It was a rare day when Marie awoke before him, and he went to investigate. He walked into the bathroom and saw Marie in the shower.<p>

"Marie?" Stein asked. Marie poked her head out from behind the frosted glass.

"Oh! Stein, I have the greatest news!" Marie said. Stein raised an eyebrow. Marie turned the shower off, stepped out and wrapped a towel around her. After also wrapping a towel around her head to dry her hair, she walked over to him. She kissed him on the cheek and looked up at him in anticipation.

"So, what's your news?" Stein asked her.

"I've thought of a name." Marie said, biting her lip.

"Let me have it." Stein said.

"Alright... but you can't laugh." Marie said, leaning on the sink.

"I won't. I wouldn't dare, Marie." Stein said.

"Well... I was thinking of Shelley." Marie said cocking her head. Stein looked over at her.

"Why Shelley? I mean, the name sounds good, but why the sudden certainty?" Stein asked.

"Well, I saw it, and it's a really nice name. Plus, it means different things in different languages. In one language, it means 'intelligent.' Which is good, because you often give your child names that correspond with traits you want them to have, right?" Marie asked. Stein thought it was cute when she tried to explain things. She rambled like the best of them.

"Right. What else does it mean?" Stein asked.

"Well, in Old English, it means 'sloped meadow.'" Marie smirked. Stein cocked an eyebrow.

"And the significance is...?" Stein asked.

"You don't remember?" Marie asked.

"No... should I?" Stein asked. Marie walked over to him.

"You remember, a couple of weeks after graduation, when we..." Marie began before standing on her tip-toes and whispering in Stein's ear. A smile crept across Stein's face as Marie recollected the day to him.

"I remember now..." Stein smirked. Then he stopped.

"Wait a second." Stein said.

"What?" Marie asked.

"What if said daughter asks what her name means?" Stein asked.

"Like I said, multiple meanings." Marie smirked. Stein nodded.

"Ah, I see." Stein said, standing behind Marie.

"I'm smarter than people give me credit for." Marie said.

"I always knew you were smart. I just didn't know you were conniving." Stein said. Marie put her hands on her hands on her hips, her jaw dropping.

"I'm not conniving!" Marie said.

"You are slightly conniving." Stein said. Marie threw her hands up in the air. Stein saw this as an opening and grabbed the bottom of Marie's towel, pulling it off. Marie's eyes widened as she tried to cover herself. Stein swiftly exited the room. Marie growled as she chased after him.

"That's conniving, right there! Now, give me back my towel!"

**A/N: Yes, the name is a reference to Mary Shelley, wrote Frankenstein, yada, yada, yada, plus, Shelley's a cute name :) And there's all of my friends' references in there :) x (Just a little random ramble, I would have named the baby 'Elizabeth' after Dr Frankenstein's wife in the books, but that's Liz's real name, so I didn't particularly want to do that.)**

**Oh, and just one thing, "You come anywhere near me with that and I break it off" is one of my proudest literary moments ever.**


	22. A Little Advice

**A/N: Alright, this chapter is dedicated to my friends who do child studies :) the poor darlings had to watch a birthing video. Oh, the joys. This is for you, my scarred children. **

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><p>"This is embarrassing." Stein said, rolling his eyes.<p>

"This is natural." Marie said, walking into the room.

"What I don't get is why we had to inflate the exercise ball at home. And why I had to carry it." Stein said, placing the oversized ball on the ground. It was a Saturday afternoon, only a day after the end of the Shibusen school year.

The Shibusen ball was Marie's place to say goodbye to the students for a while, and the last day was Stein's place to do so. Never had he gotten such heartfelt yet slightly inappropriate cards.

"Because I carried the yoga mat." Marie said. Marie placed it on the ground and looked around at all of the other pregnant women and their partners.

The time had come in Marie's pregnancy where she had to begin preparing for the joy that was labour. She looked around the class. There weren't many people, but the few that were there made Marie feel comfortable. Marie was very enthusiastic about the classes; Stein, on the other hand, wasn't really up for the notion of 'let's talk about personal things together.'

"Alright, class, let's get comfortable. We've got our goddesses, the women who are carrying a new life, loving and taking care of it, and their equally as loving, caring, supportive partners. So, let's get going, alright?" A woman, obviously leading the class, said.

She wore a long, flowing dress with many colours on it, and had long, red hair.

"Hear that, Stein? I'm a goddess." Marie said. Stein smirked and didn't respond.

The teacher, Ami, made them all sit in a circle, with the pregnant women sitting in their partners laps. Even at six and a half months pregnant, Marie was still fairly dainty.

"Alright, class, we're going to go around the circle and tell everyone what our names are and how far along we are in our pregnancies, okay?" Ami said. The class all nodded, though the partners were noticeably less enthusiastic than the women carrying the babies.

"We'll start with you two." Ami said, pointing to the couple next to her. They went in a clockwise direction, and eventually got to Marie and Stein.

"Okay, and, you two?" Ami asked.

Marie smiled and responded.

"My name is Marie Mjolnir, this is Doctor Franken Stein, and I am six and a half months pregnant." Marie smiled. The group responded.

"Hi, Marie. Hi, Franken." The group said, in an unusually expressive tone.

"_That's creepy_." Stein whispered in Marie's ear.

"Shh!" Marie whispered back, trying not to smile. Marie listened to all of the other women in the group. Surprisingly, Marie was one of the most heavily pregnant. Some of the women there looked like they were about to pop. After the introductions had been finished with, Ami spoke up again.

"Alright, class, seeing as this is the first lesson, we won't be doing too much. However, I will be showing a birthing video. Now, this is not meant to shock you, but to educate you. I don't want to lie to you; labour hurts. But trust me, when you see your baby, it'll all be worth it." Ami said.

She stood up and rolled in a large TV, and put a DVD in the player before turning off the lights.

"Alright, so, partners, make sure you support your goddesses while we watch this video, alright?" Ami asked.

"Is she telling me how to watch a DVD?" Stein asked.

"Yes. Now shush and support me." Marie smiled. Stein smirked. Marie turned around to face him.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Stein asked.

"A little." Marie said, turning her head back and leaning on Stein. Stein smiled slightly as the DVD began to play. A woman, in her late twenties, was giving birth on the screen. Marie took Stein's hands as the woman began to push.

The noises which were erupting from the woman were not typically what one would associate with 'human.' The woman, who seemed to be torturing her poor husband, not to mention cutting off his circulation, continued to scream every time she was told to push. Stein could feel Marie's hand tensing up every time the woman began to push.

If she was like this watching a video of labour, imagine how bad she'd be during actual labour.

"Stein..." Marie said, worriedly.

"Are you alright?" Stein asked.

"Yeah... I apologise in advance if I'm like this during labour." Marie said.

"It's alright." Stein said. After a good 20 minutes of screaming, pushing, complaining, more screaming and painful expressions, the woman gave one final push. The baby came out, small, red and screaming.

The husband went around and cut the cord, a smile plastered across his face. The doctors all looked relieved as several nurses came to take the baby to be weighed, measured, dried and wrapped up in a blanket.

The baby was a little boy, eight pound two, with a full head of dark hair. He was brought over to his mother and father, who had both started to cry. Ami stopped the video and Stein looked around. All of the partners looked slightly shell-shocked, whilst all of the pregnant women looked slightly too overjoyed.

"Alright, class, how did we all feel during that video?" Ami asked. Some of the class members volunteered to answer. A lot of 'scared,' 'touched' and 'freaked out' answers came up. Ami nodded.

"All of these responses are perfectly natural." Ami said. After a few minutes of discussion, Ami opened up the floor to questions. A young couple put their hands up. The woman, in her early twenties, was one of the few women more heavily pregnant than Marie.

"Yes, you two?" Ami asked.

"Well...uh...um... now that I'm getting bigger... how do we...y'know...do...it?" The woman said, apprehensively. Stein stifled a laugh.

"_Amateurs._" Stein whispered. Marie punched him in the arm.

"Alright, this is an unusually common question, and I understand why you're apprehensive about asking. There are several ways that couples can be intimate with an ever expanding belly." Ami said. She seemed to be way too into this. After explaining in quite graphic detail the answer to the couple's question, Ami began to show all of the class some rather odd and hilarious breathing and sitting techniques.

"Okay, so, goddesses, I want you all on your exercise balls. Partners, I need you to stand behind your goddesses, supporting them by the shoulders, alright?" Ami asked. All of the pregnant women got on their exercise balls with extreme trepidation, with most of the partners trying really hard not to laugh.

"Alright, now we're going to do some breathing exercises. We want two short breaths in, two short breaths out, okay?" Ami said. She began to make some extremely odd noises one would usually associate with either a boiling kettle or a dying cow.

"Alright, now you try it. Look into each other's eyes." Ami said, rather too enthusiastically. Marie turned around and looked apprehensively at Stein.

"Don't laugh." Marie said to Stein.

"Oh, I intend to laugh. I intend to laugh a lot." Stein smirked.

"You're mean!" Marie said, pouting slightly.

"I try. Now, come on, do the breathing thing." Stein said. Marie glared at him. She took two sharp breaths in. Stein tried so hard not to laugh, to no avail.

"Stein!" Marie said, looking at her chuckling partner.

"It's just so funny." Stein said.

"It's natural!" Marie said.

"Which is _why_ it's so funny." Stein smirked. Marie glared at him, but did the breathing exercise anyway. Eventually, the novelty wore off, and the whole class had eventually perfected the exercise forever known as the 'dying cow.'

"Okay, well, that's the end of our session. You've all done fabulously." Ami said. The class all got up and left slowly. Stein and Marie walked out in the middle of them.

"That was...interesting." Marie said.

"That's one word to describe it." Stein said.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad." Marie said.

"I could have lived without that video." Stein said.

"Well..." Marie said.

"Exactly." Stein said. Marie walked, her arms crossed.

"I can't believe you laughed at me." Marie said, slightly disgruntled.

"Come on... you have to admit, it was kind of funny." Stein said. Marie rolled her eyes.

"But... that's no reason for you to laugh at me!" Marie exclaimed.

"Come on, Marie. I'm sorry." Stein said.

"Yeah, yeah... just consider yourself lucky you don't have to go through this." Marie said.

"Well, I do have to deal with your wrath." Stein explained.

"My wrath?" Marie said.

"Sorry, sorry..." Stein said.

"You'd better be. I'm a goddess, remember." Marie smirked.

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Stein asked. Marie just smiled and replied.

"Nope."

**A/N: Yes, I pulled the 'goddess' part out of my magical mystical rabbit hat. Don't quite know where that came from :P **


	23. She's Getting Worried

**A/N: Goodness me, it's Chapter 23. Uh, what's special about this chapter... uh...um... well... we have caringness and stuffs. Yeah. 'Tis all. This chapter is just a weird ramble that means very little.**

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><p>Marie sat on the bed, a thermometer stuck under her tongue. She glanced at the clock next to the bed. She took the thermometer out and read the temperature. Her eyes widened as she ran out, wielding the thermometer in front of her.<p>

"Stein? Stein?" Marie said.

"Yes, Marie?" Stein asked, walking behind Marie. She turned around, the thermometer falling to her side.

"Oh, Stein! Am I hot? Feel me." Marie said. Stein raised an eyebrow.

"Here? You know, the bedroom's just over there." he smirked.

"Not like that! Do I have a temperature?" Marie asked. Stein pressed the back of his hand against Marie's forehead.

"You seem fine to me." Stein said.

"But...but...look." Marie said, giving Stein the thermometer.

"Marie, you're not that much over the normal temperature." Stein said, shaking the thermometer.

"So I am over the normal temperature? Oh, goodness, now I-" Marie started, pacing around the room.

"Marie, calm down. You're overtired. It's normal." Stein said.

"But what if it's not normal? Oh, what if I... I... Oh, I feel faint." Marie fretted. Stein stood behind her, walking her over to the couch.

"Come on, calm down, you're feeling faint because you're stressing out." Stein said to Marie.

"But I've been reading up on..." Marie started.

"No. You've got to stop that. Because then you'll think that you have every single complication under the sun." Stein said.

"Okay...okay..." Marie said, breathing deeply.

"It's those birthing classes, I tell you." Stein says.

"What's wrong with the birthing classes? They're really useful." Marie asked, closing her eyes.

"No, no, you're right. Because a whole class talking about birth defects is really reassuring for pregnant women." Stein said.

"Oh, shush." Marie said.

"Sorry. Look, Marie, you're going to be fine." Stein said.

"I'm just nervous, that's all." Marie said.

"I'd be worried if you weren't nervous." Stein said.

"I just feel like I know so little." Marie said, quietly. Stein sat on the chair across from her.

"Well, from what I can discern, you're not supposed to know much at all." Stein said to her.

"Why does it have to be like that, though?" Marie asked, exasperatedly.

"I wish I could answer that for you. I really do." Stein said. Marie sniffed slightly, her eyes starting to sting with tears.

"Marie...are you alright?" Stein asked.

"No." Marie replied, tearily. Stein looked over at her.

"Come on..." Stein said, walking over to her. She sat up slightly as Stein sat down on the couch. Marie pushed herself up against him as he wrapped his hands around her waist. Marie laughed slightly.

"I'm so hormonal." Marie said, wiping away her tears.

"Yes. Yes you are." Stein said.

"You aren't supposed to agree with me here." Marie said, closing her eyes and resting her head on Stein's shoulder.

"I'm not a fan of lying." Stein said.

"Well, feel free to take it up anytime soon." Marie said.

"You're going to be fine." Stein said.

"I sure hope so." Marie said, slightly uneasily.

"Marie, come on. You're going to make a great mother, you know that." Stein said. Marie's eyes softened and she turned to Stein.

"Thank you. You're going to make a brilliant father." Marie whispered, hugging Stein tightly. Marie looked up at him.

"I think we should go to bed." Marie said.

"Are you getting tired? Do you want to sleep?" Stein said.

"Well, I could, or…" Marie said, whispering in Stein's ear. Stein looked at her, a tiny grin appearing on his face.

"You're terrible, Marie." Stein said.

"Are you saying no?" Marie asked. Stein grinned further.

"Of course not."

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><p>At one the next morning, Stein awoke to a dim light and an empty bed.<p>

"Marie?" Stein asked. He walked out into the living room to see Marie pacing around the living room.

"Marie...are you alright?" Stein asked. Marie turned to him, her eyes piercing and red.

"S-She w-won't stop m-moving, o-or kicking..." Marie stuttered, shivering slightly, even though she had a long, fluffy dressing gown on and the night wasn't particularly cold.

"Is it bothering you?" Stein asked, walking over to her. Marie nodded.

"B-But if I c-can't deal with this, then h-how am I going t-to be able to d-deal with her w-when she's here?" Marie said, the tears rolling down her face.

"Don't do this to yourself." Stein said, wrapping his arms tightly around Marie, trying to stop her quivering.

"I'm g-going to be a t-terrible..." Marie said.

"No. Don't say what you're going to. Don't you _ever_ say that. Ever. Because you know it's not true." Stein said, holding Marie even tighter.

"But I can't deal with this... it's just..." Marie began, before going slightly limp.

"The first time I ever really dissected something, I passed out." Stein said, quietly to her.

"No, you didn't." Marie said back, softly.

"I don't lie." Stein said.

"But...but you..." Marie said.

"But I eventually got used to it." Stein said. Marie calmed slightly.

"We probably shouldn't be using dissection metaphors when talking about parenthood." Marie said.

"Maybe not." Stein said.

"I know you meant well." Marie smiled. Stein placed his hands on Marie's stomach.

"She still agitated?" Stein asked quietly. Marie just shook her head.

"No. She's better now." Marie whispered.

"That's good." Stein said back. Marie smiled.

"She's going to be a daddy's girl, I can sense it." Marie said, tilting her head back and pressing her cheek against Stein's.

"Well, you love me." Stein said, kissing Marie on the cheek.

"That I do." Marie said. It was amazing the reactions they evoked in each other.

"Come on, back to bed." Stein said.

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there." Marie said, one hand on her back and the other on top of Stein's, which was still on her stomach. Stein smirked at her and walked with her back into the bedroom. He pulled her covers back and she sat in bed.

"Thank you, Stein." Marie said.

"It's alright, Marie." Stein said, walking around the other side of the bed and getting in. He switched off the light next to his bed and laid down next to Marie, wrapping his arms around her. As he did so, Marie thought about what her 'thank you' really meant.

There were all of the major things; he'd saved her life on more than one occasion, he'd taken her in when she had nowhere else to go.

Not to mention that tiny matter of him fathering her child.

But then, there were all of the little things. The way he got up, no matter what time at night or early morning it was, to make sure she was alright.

Then, there was the way that he'd just wrap his arms around her and hold her tight without her even having to ask.

He made her feel safe.

He made her feel all fuzzy inside.

He made her feel loved.

And Marie didn't want it any other way.

**A/N: Because Marie was too relaxed in the last chapter. Mmhm. Alright, so this chapter was kinda filler... alright, I'll let you in on it... because next chapter is the *baby shower* :D I've been looking forward to writing this for AGES. So... yeah!**


	24. Celebration In Pink

**A/N: SQUEE! Alright, so I'm ever so slightly too excited about writing this chapter. But, still. :D (This chapter is one that implicitly follows the anime, not the manga. If you've read the manga, you'll see that a couple of characters should really not be there.) This chapter has some suggestive themes, but they're quite LOL-ful, in my opinion. And, uh, I know that the students would, in real life, have **_**nothing**_** to do with their teacher's baby shower, but I did want to include them in the story a bit more.**

**Happy New Years, my gorgeous readers. I love every single one of you.**

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><p>Marie was seven months pregnant, and thanks to Azusa and Naigus, was currently surrounded by more pink balloons, ribbons and streamers than she had seen in her entire life. Azusa and Naigus never were really ones for the whole baby shower thing, but they knew that, after all the things she'd had been through, Marie would really appreciate one.<p>

One of the larger classrooms at Shibusen had been transformed into a pink palace of crepe paper and taffeta decorations. The guests were, of course, Marie and Stein, the planners Azusa and Naigus, along with an array of other Shibusen faculty members.

Spirit was there and had brought Maka along, who had, in turn, forced Soul to come as well. Soul had then convinced Black*Star to attend with Sid, and he brought Tsubaki along. Shinigami-sama was there, with Kid in tow. Kid had been unusually enthusiastic to attend; though that was probably because he knew Maka was there. Justin and Joe were also there, as well as a few other teachers and staff. Most of them were more than willing to attend the baby shower of someone as dedicated as Marie. Even when she didn't want to be there, she always gave her job and everyone around her everything she had.

"Yumi, Mira, this is amazing!" Marie said, hugging them both.

"That's alright, Marie. We know how long you've wanted a family, and we figure, this definitely counts." Naigus said.

"Are you satisfied with the decorations? I organised the labour implicitly." Azusa said.

"I'm more than satisfied." Marie said.

"She's overjoyed." Naigus said. Marie nodded. Azusa and Naigus snorted slightly at the sight behind Marie.

"What?" Marie asked.

"Look behind you." Azusa said. Marie turned around and saw her partner covered in pink streamers. She tried and failed to stifle a giggle.

"What happened to you?" Marie asked.

"I was bombarded by teenagers." Stein grumbled, referring to the sneak attack launched on him by Soul, Black*Star and, surprisingly, Maka. He would have retaliated, but he did have to go home and live with Marie afterwards. He didn't know if she'd forgive him. Marie picked the streamers off of Stein.

"What would you do without me?" Marie asked.

"Probably kill said teenagers." Stein said. Marie's jaw dropped.

"But... I didn't." Stein said, like it was some sort of achievement.

"Alright." Marie said, shooting him a suspect glare. After a while of mingling, Naigus went over to the group of teenagers.

"Alright, kids, I need you to go outside for a little while, okay?" Naigus asked.

"Why?" Maka asked.

"Well, for one, your father is never very appropriate at these sorts of parties." Naigus said. That was reason enough for Maka and she took Kid's arm and dragged him out of the classroom.

"That's no reason for us to leave." Soul retorted. Black*Star stood next to him, while Tsubaki stood back, slightly ashamedly.

"Black*Star, come on, let's just go." Tsubaki said. Black*Star shook his head.

"You want a reason? Because there will be things that the women in this room talk about that even the grown-up men won't want to hear." Naigus said. Soul and Black*Star looked at each other and swiftly left the room, Tsubaki in tow.

"Alright, Marie, are you ready for presents?" Azusa asked. Marie nodded. They all sat at the large table which had been set up, which was, like everything else, covered with...pink-ness. Marie sat in the middle of the table, next to Stein, surrounded by everyone else and their presents. The first presents mainly consisted of things like nappies, wipes, clothes and an awful lot of hats. However, when she got to people she knew better, the presents began to get more specific.

From Justin, Marie got a mobile with small shinigami skulls on it. Joe gave her a large jar of Uncle Bob's Rumba Coffee.

"I know you can't have it at the moment, but with the lack of sleep you'll be getting over the next few months, I think you'll need it." Joe said. Marie smiled.

"Thanks, Joe." Marie said, smiling and taking the rather large jar of coffee, placing it behind the table. Azusa walked up to her with a small bag.

"Yumi, you didn't have to get me anything, you and Mira did all this!" Marie said.

"Oh, no, it's the bill." Azusa said. She then broke out a rare smile and gave Marie the bag. Inside it was a voucher to a small, locally owned baby furniture shop in Death City.

"Yumi..." Marie said, in awe.

"Well, I was doing some research, and one of the most expensive aspects of raising a child is-" Azusa was cut off by Marie hugging her tightly.

"I love you too, Yumi." Marie said, quietly. After getting over the shock, Azusa hugged her back. After letting go, Azusa went and walked past Stein.

"Hey." Stein said. Azusa turned around.

"Thanks, Committee." Stein said.

"No problem, rule-breaker." Azusa said, adjusting her glasses. Stein shook his head and turned to Marie. She picked up a bag and looked at the tag with trepidation.

"What's wrong, Marie?" Stein asked.

"It's from Spirit." Marie whispered. She looked over at Spirit. She smiled slightly and looked in the bag. She processed what it was and rolled her eyes. It was very...Spirit.

She pulled out the box of condoms and looked at them quizzically.

"Spirit, I hate to break it to you, but I think you're ever so slightly too late." Naigus remarked. The room laughed.

"Well, that's for _after_ the baby arrives." Spirit said, a suggestive and rather dim-witted look on his face. Marie should have been disturbed, but she was used to Spirit's..._thoughtful _gifts.

"Thank you, Spirit. Though, now I see why we sent the children outside." Marie said. The guests all laughed at Marie's remark. After the rest of the presents were given, Stein turned to Marie, an envelope in his hands.

"This is from the class." Stein said. Marie smiled and opened the card, and was hit with the large signature of Black*Star.

"Just read around it." Stein said. Marie giggled slightly and read the message that Black*Star had written out aloud.

"May your baby be blessed with my god-like signature." Marie smiled. Class Crescent Moon was a quirky bunch, but they were _her_ quirky bunch.

"It's gorgeous." Marie said to herself, holding the card close to her chest.

"Alright, now we're going to play a game. Everyone, if you'd care to direct your eyes over to this board..." Azusa said, walking over to a board plastered with baby photos.

"Oh my..." Marie said, smiling.

"Alright, this photo, who is this?" Naigus said, pointing to a small, blue-haired baby.

"Come on, Mira, you could make it a little more difficult." Sid remarked.

"Isn't that yours?" Spirit asked.

"It's the rather rambunctious and accident prone Black*Star." Naigus said, writing the name underneath. Naigus then pointed to a toddler, with black hair and rather piercing blue, bespectacled eyes.

"So, who is this?" Naigus said. None of the guests seemed to know who it was. That was, until Stein spoke up.

"That's Azusa." Stein said. Naigus raised an eyebrow.

"Wh- How did you know?" Naigus asked. Stein walked up to the board.

"Look how petrified those two kids in the background look." Stein said. Some of the guests, mostly men, laughed.

"Oh, you think that's funny? Then, Franken, could you tell me who this is?" Naigus said, pointing to a small, green doe-eyed, silver haired little boy. The picture evoked many 'aww's from the crowd, while Stein's face dropped.

"Where the_ hell_ did you get that from?" Stein asked Naigus, his eyes narrowing as he turned her away from the rest of the group. Naigus pointed behind Stein, and he turned around to face the woman behind him.

"Marie?" Stein asked.

"Sorry, Stein. They said they were playing this game, and I'd seen this picture before... Sorry." Marie said, innocently.

"Really?" Stein said.

"If it makes you feel any better... you were very cute. You still are cute." Marie said, smiling. Stein couldn't stay mad at her.

"I... You... Come here." Stein said. Marie hugged him tightly. He smirked down at her.

"Alright, Marie, we've got one more thing for you guys." Naigus said. She pulled out a small pin board which had notes stuck on it.

"These are virtues that all of your guests want to bestow on your daughter. We hope you like it." Naigus said. Marie fought to hold back tears as she hugged Naigus. She read through the board, reading the virtues the guests wanted her daughter to have.

Justin had wished her the power to have faith. Joe had wished her a delicate palette which was partial to coffee. Naigus had wished her resilience in the face of pressure. Azusa had wished her an analytical and pragmatic mind. Sid had wished her the power to stay true to herself. Spirit had wished her the gift of charisma. Shinigami-sama had wished her a carefree and open-minded spirit. Down the bottom, she saw a note with a familiar name on it.

"I wish our daughter her mother's wit, strength and beauty." Marie read aloud, looking over at Stein.

"What? You're allowed to know about my baby photos, I'm allowed to know about this." Stein said. Marie smiled, no longer able to hold back the tears of joy. She went and buried her head into Stein's chest, holding him close.

And that day, everyone was there for the woman who was always there for them.

**A/N: SQUEE. That was awfully fun to write :D**


	25. A Tearful Construction

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to anyone who had ever made flat-pack furniture and knows how much of a bitch it is. Oh, Crona's mentioned in this chapter. It's Fem!Crona. Problem? IDGAF.**

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><p>"This makes absolutely no sense." Stein said, glancing up at Marie. She was looking through the instruction booklet for the cot she and Stein had just acquired. She was still in her pyjamas; after all, it was 2 o'clock in the afternoon.<p>

"Oh! Here we go...no...that's in a another language." Marie said. Stein took the instruction book from her.

"That's because it's upside down." Stein said. He turned it around but his face only became more puzzled.

"No...it was the right way around. What language is that, even?" Stein asked.

"I don't know." Marie said, exasperatedly.

"This is hopeless." Stein said. Marie took the booklet from him.

"Hang on, here! I can read these." Marie said.

"Finally. Alright, where do we start?" Stein asked.

"Okay, it says here to insert rod A into slot B." Marie said.

"Isn't that how we got into this situation in the first place?" Stein smirked.

"What are you, twelve?" Marie asked.

"Sorry." Stein said, taking the two pieces and slotting them together.

"Then you take that bit over there and put it into this bit here." Marie said, pointing to two parts of the cot construction. Stein nodded and connected them.

"Could you pass me the screws?" Stein asked.

"Yeah." Marie nodded. She tried to lean down off of the chair to get them. She struggled to reach down. Stein turned around to see why Marie hadn't passed him the screws yet.

"Marie?" Stein asked, before seeing her struggle. Marie looked up to see Stein smiling.

"Don't you laugh. You should try carrying around all this extra weight." Marie said.

"I'll get them, Marie." Stein said, grabbing the small packet of screws, allowing Marie to sit back, taking a long sigh.

"You feeling okay?" Stein asked, fastening another bar of the cot onto the frame.

"Yeah, yeah. Just having a lot of sympathy for beached whales at the moment." Marie said as she dropped the instruction booklet and rested her hands upon her stomach.

"Now, come on. You don't look like a beached whale." Stein said to her.

"I _feel_ like a beached whale." Marie shrugged. Stein looked over at her.

"I... can't respond to that without sounding like an idiot." Stein said, turning back to the construction. Marie raised an eyebrow.

"Hey! What would you say that would make you sound like an idiot?" Marie asked.

"Well, I can't say that. I'll sound like an idiot." Stein smirked.

"You're already sounding like an idiot." Marie giggled.

"Thanks." Stein replied. Marie's face dropped.

"I'm sorry!" Marie said, worriedly. Stein turned and chuckled.

"You're very high strung, aren't you?" Stein asked.

"I'm not high strung! Stop it!" Marie said, clenching her fists. Stein glanced bad at her and couldn't help but chuckle. He pushed his glasses over the bridge of his nose, picking up the instruction booklet and reading it.

"You know, _we_ never fight. I just fight _at_ you." Marie said.

"Mm, but you're pregnant. You're allowed to do that." Stein said. Marie looked at him, exasperatedly. She felt a horribly familiar feeling rise up in her stomach; and for a change, it wasn't nausea.

"Why are you so tolerant of me?" Marie asked him, quietly. Stein noticed the stain in her voice; any half-decent meister would have.

"What?" Stein asked, moving over to Marie and kneeling in front of her.

"W-Why did you let me stay here? Why didn't you just tell me to go somewhere else?" Marie asked.

Suddenly, it clicked. Stein's eyes widened as he took Marie's hands.

"Marie...I let you stay here because I trust you. And I know what you're really like." Stein said.

This was one of the situations where Stein had to take care of Marie.

Marie's parents had always seen her as defective after they found out her weapon abilities. They sent her off to Shibusen as soon as they could. That was one of the reasons Marie had taken such care of Crona; even forgiving her after she slipped Medusa's snake into her system. Marie knew what it was like to be tortured by her own parents. Ignored; always an afterthought. To her parents, Marie was a mistake. She was brought into this world and wasn't right. That had been drilled into Marie's brain for the first decade of her life.

Marie began to hyperventilate slightly. She hadn't had one of these attacks for a while now. She had them, sometimes, whilst Stein was still under the full influence of his madness. They were terrible times for Marie; Stein couldn't help her. Now he could. He stood up, pulling Marie up with him. She was pulled into his embrace reluctantly. Stein hated doing this; she struggled, but he had no choice.

"_No!_ Don't! I'm not worth it!" Marie said, her voice raised, choking back tears.

"Shh, shh..." Stein said the two words which always calmed Marie down. Hell, they weren't even full words. Marie eventually stopped struggling and immersed herself in Stein's hold. She pulled away after they had stood there, silently, for a couple of minutes. She looked up at him.

"You back?" Stein asked, quietly. Marie nodded.

"I'm sorry. That hasn't happened for months." Marie whispered.

"Don't apologise. Come on, you should rest." Stein said, placing his arm around Marie's waist and leading her to the bedroom.

"Yeah." Marie said, following. She pulled back the covers and laid in bed. Stein kissed her on the forehead.

"Right, I'll come back and check on you soon." Stein said. Marie smiled contently.

"Thanks." Marie said, taking a deep breath, slipping off her eyepatch and placing it on the bedside table.

"Alright. I'm going to go back to building the cot that Death himself couldn't understand." Stein said.

"Okay." Marie said, tiredly. Stein began to walk out of the room. Before he did, he swivelled around to face Marie one more time.

"Hey, Marie?" Stein asked.

"Stein?" Marie asked.

"I kept you here because I wanted you here." Stein said. Marie's face softened as she replied in a small voice.

"I know." she said, closing her eyes. Stein smirked at the spectacle of Marie's sudden change, shook his head and walked back to finish construction.

* * *

><p>Marie awoke a couple of hours later, rubbed her eyes and pushed herself up in the bed. She yawned as she slipped her legs out of the bed, standing up and trying to push herself off of the mattress. She landed with a soft 'oomph' as her legs buckled and she fell back onto the bed. She tried to get up once again, but her body failed her. She reluctantly took a deep breath and called out.<p>

"Stein?" Marie asked, loudly. He walked into the room and saw Marie sitting on the bed, a defeated look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Stein asked, walking over to her. She glared at him.

"Can't get up?" Stein asked. Marie nodded, dejectedly. Stein sat down next to her and wrapped his hand firmly around her waist. Marie placed her arm around his shoulder as he pulled her off the bed.

"Thanks." Marie said to Stein.

"That's alright. Only a little while longer." Stein said.

"Yeah." Marie smiled.

"Here, come on, I have to show you something." Stein said, taking Marie's hand and leading her into what would soon be their daughter's bedroom. Stein put his hands over Marie's eyes and walked her in.

"You ready?" Stein asked.

"If you don't take your hands off my eyes, I'll hit you." Marie said.

"I'll take that as a yes." Stein said, taking his hands away from Marie's eyes. As he did, Marie saw the cot. Stein had finished building it while she was sleeping. It was a quaint little cot; Marie chose it, and it fit in the corner of the room. Of course, their daughter wouldn't be using it for a little while after she was born, but it was just perfect.

"Oh, Stein! It's amazing." Marie said, throwing her arms around the silver haired scientist and hugging him tightly.

"It was nothing." Stein smiled.

"Nothing? Of course it was something." Marie said, looking up at him.

"Once I found instructions I could read, it made sense." Stein smirked.

"Thank you, Stein." Marie smiled.

"Now we've gotta build the rest of the furniture." Stein said.

"Let's cross that bridge when we get to it." Marie remarked. She held Stein tightly and looked up at him.

"I know you wanted me here." Marie said, quietly. Stein placed his hand on Marie's head, stroking her golden hair.

"I know," Stein mouthed silently, "I know."

**A/N: So, I wanted to put in a little bit about Marie's past, because she's such an underexplored character, which is both a good and a bad thing. It's bad because she's amazing and I wish we could learn more about her, but it's good because it gives us creative license in stories. I've always had the feeling that Marie's quirkiness had to stem from something. So, that's my take on it all. :)**


	26. The Festivities Ensue

**A/N: So this chapter is a nice little break from everything. It's a Christmas chapter :) I know it's late, but I just couldn't post it in time for Christmas. Consider it a late present :D**

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><p>Marie and Stein stood at the door of Death Mansion, the place where Shinigami-sama had invited all the Deathscythes, senior meisters, some of the Shibusen faculty and their families to Christmas dinner. Marie was enthusiastic at the notion; Stein, however, hadn't warmed to the idea as much.<p>

"We could have just stayed at home." Stein said. Marie rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but, Shinigami-sama invited us." Marie said back to her disgruntled partner. Marie loved Christmas; it was a time where she could control who she saw and what she did.

"You're going to catch your death of cold." Stein said, looking over at the rugged up Marie.

"I'll be fine." Marie smiled. As she did, the door opened and a familiar looking mask appeared.

"Marie-chan! Stein-kun! Come in, come in!" Shinigami-sama said, letting Stein and Marie pass. Marie removed her beanie, scarf and large jacket. Stein waited for her as she waddled in front of him. She looked into the dining room, where Spirit, Sid, Naigus, Justin and Azusa sat. In the room across from them, Maka, Black*Star and Kid had come due to their parent and guardian connections and therefore, Soul, Tsubaki, Liz and Patti had come by proxy.

"Hi, everyone." Marie smiled. Stein stood behind her and waved half-heartedly. He didn't know how to do this whole Christmas thing; he'd always turned down invitations to spend the day with others in favour of spending it in solitary. Stein pulled out a chair for Marie; she smiled at him and sat graciously, savouring the warmth of the crackling fire in the dining room. Stein took a seat next to her, slightly awkwardly. She glanced over at him, shooting a sympathetic look through her uncovered eye.

"Are you alright?" Marie asked, placing her hand on Stein's thigh underneath the table. He glanced down at her grip.

"Yeah." he said, placing his hand on top of hers. She smiled at him, not removing her grip. The notion of Stein's social awkwardness was something which had plagued him for years; and was, to be honest, probably a contributing factor to his madness. However, now that the madness had been soothed, Marie felt less bad about finding it extremely cute.

"How are you, Marie?" Azusa asked, sitting opposite her.

"Oh, alright. Tired, but that's to be expected. And you?" Marie asked.

"Same old, same old." Azusa replied. Marie smirked slightly.

"Fair enough." She replied. Spirit glanced over at Marie.

"So, how long until we see this fabled daughter of yours?" he asked. Marie smiled.

"Mid-February, according to my doctor." Marie said. She felt Stein's hand tighten over hers. She smiled up at him.

"So, are you going to go back to teaching afterwards?" Spirit asked.

"I hope so. It depends." Marie said, looking down at her stomach. She felt her daughter moving, which was amazing in a way, but was also rather annoying. She clutched her hand to her stomach. Stein looked over at her slightly exasperated look.

"She bothering you?" he asked. Marie shook her head.

"No. I'm used to it, now. Only taken, what, seven and a half months?" Marie giggled. Stein nodded slightly, acknowledging her comment, and went back into the conversation. Spirit and Shinigami-sama seemed to be conversing about their children's relationship.

"So, Maka really seems to like Kid-kun, eh?" Spirit asked.

"She does. Kid-kun doesn't stop talking about her. It's all, 'her eyes are so symmetrical,' or 'her hair is so symmetrical,' or... well, you get the drift." Shinigami-sama chuckled.

"They don't pay attention in class. They just gaze into each other's eyes. It's odd." Stein said. The group chuckled slightly and continued to chat.

The dinner went off without any major issues... well, that was, until somebody brought out the alcohol-laced eggnog. The group managed to contain their drinking; Marie, of course, containing it completely. However, after a little while, Spirit stood from his chair, obviously tipsy, and walked into the living room.

"Spirit?" Azusa asked, but the man simply laughed to himself. Maka stood from her seat and, taking Kid with her, went to see wheat her father was doing.

"Papa? Oh my..." Maka said, burying her chest into her shinigami boyfriend's chest. Kid held Maka close as her father proceeded to jump from one couch to the other, chuckling to himself. Maka walked back into the dining room.

"Shinigami-sama, can you please sort out my father?" Maka asked. Shinigami-sama chuckled to himself and went to sort out his Deathscythe. However, after a few minutes, he walked back into the dining room, exasperatedly.

"I can't get him to stop." Shinigami-sama said. The group muttered amongst themselves. If Shinigami-sama couldn't stop him, there was only one other person who could. The entire congregation of people looked at the drunken man's former meister.

"Me? Oh, for Death's sake." Stein said, pushing his chair out from the table and walking into the living room. Marie got up after him, watching tentatively as Stein approached the scythe. He saw the man; the fully grown adult male; giggling to himself as he leapt from chair to chair.

"Spirit, get down from there." Stein said, rolling his eyes and rubbing his temples in annoyance.

"Stein! Man, h-how are you?" Spirit hiccupped, jumping from the chair he was on and walking over to Stein.

"I'm fine. I've much less to say for your daughter, however." Stein said. Spirit's blank expression suggested he was quite inebriated. His eyes were clouded and his head was tilted slightly to the side in complete and utter confusion.

"You know... I-I love you, Stein. Y-You're my b-best friend." Spirit said, falling onto the younger, slightly shorter man who groaned as the weight was put onto his shoulders. Stein glared at Spirit, who was now either passed out or asleep on his shoulder.

"I'm sure you do. Now, come on." Stein said, lugging the essentially dead weight over the living room. He turned to Marie.

"Could you get Sid in here?" Stein asked. Marie nodded and dawdled out into the dining room.

"Sid, could you give Stein a hand?" Marie asked, quietly. Sid nodded and walked out into the corridor where Stein had his arms under Spirit's shoulders, dragging him out of the room. Sid walked over to Spirit's feet and lifted them up, hauling Spirit through the corridors and up the stairs of Death Mansion, to one of the bathrooms. Marie watched on as Spirit and Sid continued to tow the Deathscythe up the staircase. They leant him against the bathtub and then looked at each other.

"Should you or shall I?" Stein asked. Sid chuckled. The whole 'Drunken Spirit' routine was a regular one, and had been since they were students at Shibusen.

"Go for it. Consider it a Christmas gift." Sid said. Stein nodded and knelt down next to Spirit. He lifted his hand and, in one swift movement, slapped Spirit clean across the face. His blue eyes bolted open and a cry of pain erupted from within him.

"_Stein!_" Spirit yelled, clutching his reddened cheek.

"Alright, he's fine." Stein said, standing up once again. He looked over at Sid.

"I'll watch him for a bit." Sid said, waving Stein out of the room. Stein acknowledged Sid's gesture and walked out of the room, walking back down the staircase and facing Marie.

"What was that noise?" Marie asked, worriedly. Stein smirked at her and replied whilst walking off.

"I slapped Spirit in the face."

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><p>Soon after the dinner was over, Stein and Marie made their way home, the end of their last Christmas by themselves. They walked through the doors of Stein's laboratory, Marie flopping down on the couch, rather tired.<p>

"I hope Spirit's alright." Marie said, closing her eyes and laying back on the couch. Stein sat backwards on his chair and rolled over to sit next to her.

"Well, he's been alright all of the other times he's gotten blind drunk." Stein said to Marie. Marie smiled and sighed.

"So, last Christmas without Shelley, hey?" Marie asked, resting her hands on her stomach.

"Indeed." Stein replied. Marie didn't reply.

"Marie?" Stein asked, looking over at her. She had fallen asleep. Stein shook his head and smirked, kneeling down next to Marie. He placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently.

"Huh-wha?" Marie asked. Stein looked at her.

"Come on, let's get you into bed." Stein said, helping Marie stand up and leading her into the bedroom. Marie got into her nightgown before slipping comfortably into bed, taking off her eyepatch as she did so. Stein got in next to her and placed his hands behind his head. Marie pulled herself closer to him, draping one of her arms across his chest. As they turned off the lights and began to drift off to sleep, they spoke to one another.

"Merry Christmas, Stein." Marie said. Stein looked over at her. It was a rare day when someone said that to him; wishing him well on a holiday he was well and truly indifferent to.

"Merry Christmas, Marie." Stein replied, wrapping his arms protectively around her. He had a major duty of care to her; she wasn't just his weapon anymore, she was the mother of his child. Stein ran his hands down to lean on Marie's stomach.

"You too, baby." Stein said, quietly. Marie's eyes bolted open and something in her stomach stirred.

"_Did he really just say that?_" Marie asked. Being at such a late stage of her pregnancy, her emotions were extra sensitive. Tears of joy began to roll from her eyes. Stein had changed; but he'd changed in the greatest possible way. Stein heard Marie snivel and spoke up.

"Marie, what's wrong?" Stein asked. Marie turned over to see his dark silhouette.

"Nothing," she whispered, hugging Stein tightly, "Nothing at all."

**A/N: Whoo, that chapter nearly ended this entire story. I got to the middle of the chapter and I just had ****major**** writers block, which is another reason I'm writing the whole story beforehand. But, then I thought, "Why not have Spirit get absolutely plastered?" And we went from there. So, there's four more chapters to go in this story. I am planning at least one sequel (for anyone that's interested) and maybe more, depending on my school workload and whatnot. But, anyway. On with the next chapter!**


	27. Spick And Span

**A/N: **Internet's baack!****

**Alright, so, the idea from this chapter comes from my dear friend and beta-reader, kyonkichi's kitten. Thank you for this :) Oh, I don't own ShamWow! It's a long story.**

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><p>Marie stood at the mirror of Stein's bathroom, pulling her hair into two pigtails and taking a deep breath in. 'Very heavily pregnant' did not begin to describe Marie's state of being at that time. In fact, her baby was due in just under a month. Her pregnancy had been fairly stereotypical; what with the cravings, morning sickness and her constant heightened emotional state.<p>

However, now that her pregnancy was in the home stretch, it was time to buckle down and do what a pregnant woman yearns for; an animalistic trait which was set in the minds of all species.

Marie was beginning to nest.

Yes, she was a late bloomer to the whole nesting situation. She knew women who had been nesting from only a few _weeks_ into their pregnancy. However, the innate need had finally taken over the hammer, and she was going to redefine the words 'tidy up.'

Stein was out somewhere, presumably something to do with Shibusen. Stein didn't like to wake Marie when he left anywhere, and that really didn't faze Marie. She was quite happy to take advantage of the life growing inside of her in order to get a few more hours of sleep.

Marie looked around the main room of the laboratory. It wasn't messy as such. There wasn't a lot of clutter, but any clutter that was there would be gone by the end of the day. She had gotten out a bucket, a mop, not to mention the ShamWow she had bought one night, on a whim. Marie plus infomercials plus staying up until two in the morning equals unnecessary purchases.

"Right. Let's do this." Marie said, her hands on her hips and a determined look in her eye. She walked over to the small living area and sat down on the couch. She took the two pillows which usually sat near the arm of the couch and fluffed them up. As she did so, dust flew from one of them, causing Marie to sneeze.

"Geez!" Marie said, picking up the pillows and taking them outside, banging them against the lode-bearing pillars outside the front door. As she did so, a small, mechanical, stitched-up mouse landed at her feet. She picked it up and brought it back inside.

"I told him not to leave you outside." Marie said, placing the motorized rodent on the shelf, turning it off. She placed the cushions back on the couch, carefully. She stood back, glad at the work she had begun. However, she still had a whole laboratory to go. She made her way over to Stein's desk, the place where the most clutter built up.

She sat down on his chair, placing her hands flat down on the desk. She took the many papers which were strewn across the desk and placed them in drawers, sorting them out as she went. As she went through them, a photo fell out.

"What is that?" Marie asked herself, picking up the picture. Her face softened and her smile grew wide as she realised what it was.

The E.A.T Class at DWMA. Marie and Stein's graduating year. Marie had no idea that Stein had kept stuff like that. Stein was bullied at Shibusen; she figured he'd want to push those memories as far out of his mind as possible. She sat back and looked down at all of the familiar faces; there was her, Stein, Spirit, Kami, Sid, Naigus and Azusa, as well as some faces she'd rather forget and faces she couldn't fail to remember.

She looked at the picture of herself and giggled slightly. Her hair was long and curly, with a lot more volume. She remembered how long she'd take to do her hair every morning; how she'd annoy her meister to no end. She looked at Stein. He didn't look much different; well, except for the lack of an enormous screw through the skull. The stitches across his face were also noticeably absent.

She saw Spirit and Kami, back when they were still together. They were happy then, the most talked about couple at Shibusen. That was helped by the fact that Kami was pregnant with Maka back then. Sid and Naigus looked a lot different, Sid not in his zombie form and Naigus not mummified.

Marie smiled and took the picture with her, finding a spare picture frame in a cabinet. She slipped the photo in and placed it on Stein's desk.

"There. Right, what's next?"

* * *

><p>Stein eventually arrived home from a faculty meeting at Shibusen. He walked in to a house which was quite literally gleaming.<p>

"Marie?" Stein asked. After a couple of seconds, Marie popped up from behind the couch.

"Hi, Stein." Marie smiled, before ducking back down behind the lounge. Stein frowned and went to see what the hell she was doing.

"Did you fall?" Stein asked, before he saw Marie on her knees, trying to get a stain off of the floor.

"What in Death's name are you doing?" Stein asked. Marie turned to him quickly, causing the dust which had settled in her hair to fall off, causing her to sneeze once again.

"I'm nesting." Marie said. Stein pulled her up off of her knees.

"And exactly how long have you been _nesting_?" Stein asked. Marie looked away from him.

"All day." She mumbled. Stein rolled his eyes.

"Marie, you can't put that much strain on your body." Stein said.

"But everything has to be tidy for the baby, and safe, and..." Marie said.

"Marie, we did all this. All of my equipment is up out of reach, all cords are up high or out of reach and we've put stoppers on all of the sharp corners." Stein said, placing his hands on Marie's shoulders. Marie glanced around. Stein was right; there were no scalpels to be seen, no cords to be pulled, and all of the shinigami-skull shaped covers were on the sharp corners.

"But...but..." Marie began. Stein brushed some of the dust off of Marie's hair.

"You go and have a shower." Stein said.

"B-" Marie began.

"Go on." Stein said, pushing Marie by the waist to the bathroom.

"I hate you sometimes." Marie glowered.

"No, you don't." Stein smirked, leaving Marie and walking over to his desk. He picked up the photo which Marie had obviously put there in her cleaning rampage.

"Only Marie." Stein laughed to himself. He put the photo frame down again and went to look around the rest of his laboratory. She'd really gone to town with all the cleaning stuff.

"Hate to be a dust mite around this place." Stein said to himself. He walked back over to his desk and sat backwards on his chair. He leant his head on his hands and closed his eyes. He had pushed it to the back of his mind for the past few months; it seemed so far away that he didn't really need to worry about it.

Now it was a month away.

Only a month until another life was brought into the world; a girl that was biologically connected to him for the rest of her life. She'd share half of his DNA. He would watch her grow and learn about the world. He and Marie. A father and a mother.

Thinking about it, he would then be irrevocably connected to Marie for the rest of their lives. Not that it was a bad thing. He thought about what would happen to their daughter; being the daughter of a Deathscythe and the strongest meister ever to graduate from Shibusen warranted some talk. Not to mention the fact that her father had a reputation for being somewhat…_unstable._

Not to mention the fact that one of her parents is a meister, the other a weapon. Which would she be? Children who were weapons often took the same or a similar weapon form to their weapon parent... Oh no.

That's just what he needed.

If his daughter was anything like her mother when she was pissed off _and_ she could turn into a hammer at will... He was in for some trouble.

Stein was taken from his thoughts by Marie poking him in the back. Stein turned to face her.

"Oh, hi." Stein said.

"What were you thinking about?" Marie asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing." Stein said. Marie crossed her arms and glared at Stein through her uncovered eye.

"Don't you lie to me." Marie said. Stein sat back.

"I'm not lying to you." Stein remarked. Marie laughed incredulously.

"Franken Stein, I've known you for near-on twenty years. I can tell when you're lying." she smiled.

"Fine. I was thinking about whether she's going to be a weapon or a meister." Stein said, pointing to Marie's stomach. Marie smiled.

"Well, a weapon, obviously." Marie smiled. Stein stood up.

"Oh, you're so sure about that?" Stein asked.

"I am. I'm going to be a mother, I can tell." Marie smirked, crossing her arms once again.

"Really?" Stein asked, walking behind Marie and leaning his arms over her shoulders, bringing his head down next to Marie's.

"Really. Her mother is a Deathscythe; she's bound to take my form." Marie looked over at Stein.

"True... but you were turned into a Deathscythe by a meister." Stein said. Marie's brow furrowed.

"Yeah, bu-" Marie began.

"Plus, not meaning to brag or anything... but I _am_ the strongest meister ever to graduate from Shibusen." Stein remarked. Marie casually elbowed Stein in the stomach, causing him to stagger back slightly.

"What was that for?" Stein chuckled. Marie smirked.

"She'll be a weapon." Marie said.

"Meister." Stein argued.

"Weapon." Marie replied.

"Meister." Stein replied. Marie cocked an eyebrow.

"Someone's not getting any for a long, _long_ time." Marie said, walking off into the bedroom. Stein's eyes widened as he strolled quickly after her.

"Alright, alright, I concede she _could_ be a weapon..."

**A/N: That chapter was easier to write than the last one *phew* and the next chapter is going to be nice and eventful :)**


	28. Not Too Long

**A/N: Alright, this chapter, I've had planned for ages. So, let's go!  
>Just the little warning, there's sex references in here :o It's not that bad, get over it :P<br>Just another warning, the end of this chapter is cliffhanger-y. If you really hate cliffhanger endings, then wait until I post the next chapter. I'll try and post it ASAP.**

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><p>Marie was counting down the days now until her due date; February 13th. Her daughter was due the day before Valentine's Day, but Doctor Katsuma had said that she could go into labour any day now. However, she also said that the baby could be anywhere up to a month late.<p>

Marie, however, being the optimistic woman she was, hoped for her daughter to come sooner rather than later. It was currently the 2nd of February, and Marie was ever so slightly on edge.

That day, Azusa was over. Marie was rather annoyed that she rarely left the house, so she invited Azusa around. Stein was usually around the house, and Marie did love to talk to him, but there were some things she just couldn't talk to him about.

There are some things only people with ovaries understand.

Marie was sitting across from Azusa, continually adjusting her shirt and bra.

"Are you alright?" Azusa asked. Marie sighed.

"They're so sore. And enormous." Marie said, arching her back.

"Yeah, because if there's anything you need, it's bigger boobs." Azusa smirked. Marie crossed her arms.

"I feel like I'm about to burst." Marie said, laying her hands on her stomach. Azusa sighed at her friend, laying her hands on her knees.

"You don't look very comfortable." Azusa said.

"Well, I'm not, really." Marie sighed, stretching her arms above her head.

"If you're in this much pain about your boobs, aren't you worried about labour?" Azusa asked Marie, a glass; or rather, a beaker of water in her hand.

"Not particularly, really. I mean, I know it'll be hard, but it is kind of inevitable." Marie said. Azusa chuckled slightly.

"But, I mean, was the sex _really_ worth the pain you're going to go through?" Azusa asked. Without a moment's hesitation, Marie replied.

"Absolutely." Marie said.

Azusa spit the water that was in her mouth out, choking slightly.

"S-Sorry?" Azusa asked.

"You asked me a question and I responded truthfully." Marie said. Azusa looked over at Marie.

"That good?" Azusa asked, disbelievingly.

"That good." Marie shrugged.

"I'm glad you think that highly of me." Stein said, placing his hands down on Marie's shoulders, causing her to jump. A blush appeared on her face and she covered it with her hands.

"_Stein!_" Marie said, still tensed up.

"What? I live here too. And you two don't exactly talk quietly." Stein smirked, kissing Marie on the top of the head before walking off. Azusa smirked.

"Don't say a word." Marie said.

"Why?" Azusa asked.

"Because…you're mean." Marie crossed her arms.

"Sorry, sorry." Azusa said. Marie snarled slightly before her face softened.

"It's alright." she said, quietly. Azusa looked down at her hands. She was fidgeting.

"Yumi... what's up?" Marie asked.

"Nothing." Azusa said, deadpanning.

"Don't lie to me..." Marie said.

"I'm not lying..." Azusa said, still slightly restless.

"What sort of example are you setting as number-one aunt of Shelley?" Marie asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Fine, fine... I have to ask you something. But you have to promise not to squeal or yell or make any sudden noises, alright?" Azusa said to Marie. Marie nodded.

"Okay... what is it?" Marie asked, enthusiastically.

"Well...I need to borrow... a dress." Azusa said. Marie's eye widened and a wide smiled appeared on her face.

"Really? Why?" Marie asked.

"I told you not to squeal. And... I have a date." Azusa said. Without any hesitation, Marie stood up, grabbed Azusa's hands and lead her into the bedroom. As she did so, she felt a twinge in her stomach. She clutched at her bump, looking at it.

"Marie?" Azusa asked. Marie looked up at her and shook her head.

"I'm fine." Marie said, the smile creeping across her face once more.

"Are you sure? Do you want me to get Franken?" Azusa asked. Marie shook her head once again.

"No, I'm fine. Now, come on, I have _so_ many dresses for you to try." Marie said. Azusa rolled her eyes and followed Marie to her wardrobe.

After trying on at least 5 dresses, Azusa found one that was... tolerable. Unfortunately, there was a problem.

"Marie, it's way too big in the chest." Azusa said, pulling at the sides of the black number. Azusa wasn't flat-chested, by any stretch of the imagination, but Marie was very well endowed. Marie looked at her, hands on her hips.

"Hmmm..." Marie tried to think. She scratched her head. After a few seconds, a lightbulb went off in her head. She ran out of the room.

"Marie?" Azusa asked, holding the dress up on her chest. After a minute or two, Marie returned from her daughter's bedroom, holding a small box.

"What the- disposable nursing pads? Marie, what am I going to do with-" Azusa began, but stopped when Marie stuffed two of the pads down the front of the dress.

"You're lucky you're my best friend." Azusa said, taken slightly aback. Marie stood back. Azusa was now able to fill out the dress; and she did look pretty damn good.

"There. Just make sure that you take them out if you two take off any clothing." Marie smirked.

"Marie! I'm not going to do that on a first date!" Azusa said.

"That's what they _all_ say. I'm just giving sound advice." Marie said to the younger woman. Azusa simply smirked.

"You're going to make a great mother." Azusa said, hugging Marie. As she did so, Marie felt that familiar twinge in her stomach. She hid it, making sure the pained expression on her face was invisible to Azusa. Azusa left with the dress Marie had lent her as Marie sat carefully down on a chair. Unfortunately, after a couple of minutes, her expression fell and she slid back down into the chair.

Azusa was going out on dates and Marie was stuck in the house like an overstuffed turkey.

She saw one of the baby rattles she and Stein had received as a present and picked it up. Stein sat down across from her as she spun the rattle on her finger.

"Marie, somehow I don't think that's going to coax the baby out." Stein said. Marie looked at him.

"It might." she smirked.

"You're really going stir-crazy, aren't you?" Stein asked. Marie nodded.

"I think so." Marie said, tapping her finger on the arm of the chair.

"Well, I can probably help. I am a connoisseur of the crazy." Stein said. Marie looked over at him and giggled slightly.

"I wouldn't say that." Marie looked down.

"Come on, Marie. It's only a matter of time." Stein said.

"Yeah, well. It's a big matter." Marie said, resting her hands on her basically fully-expanded stomach.

"I know. Well, put it this way. One more day in the womb for our daughter is one less day for Spirit to corrupt her." Stein said. Marie laughed once again.

"Stein, that's mean!" she smiled.

"Then why are you laughing?" Stein shook his head slightly.

"I'm not laughing!" Marie said, her giggling continuing.

"Then what are you doing?" Stein asked. Marie stifled her giggles and looked over at Stein.

"I'm not laughing." Marie said, her hands clasped over her mouth, muffling her words.

"Yeah." Stein said. Marie did stop laughing eventually and looked over at Stein.

"You're going to make a great dad." Marie said.

"I highly doubt that. You, on the other hand... I'd have killed to have a mother like you." Stein said. Marie looked at him, her sense of worth heightened.

"Thanks, Stein." Marie smiled. Stein nodded.

"Well, it's true." Stein said, standing up and walking over to his desk. Marie stood up, another twinge in her stomach. She looked down.

"_No. It's probably just Braxton Hicks contractions. It's nothing._" Marie told herself as she walked over after Stein, standing behind him and leaning her hand on his shoulder.

"We're going to be parents soon." Marie smiled as Stein tapped away on his keyboard.

"Well, we've still got a little while to go yet." Stein said. Marie didn't reply. Stein raised an eyebrow and felt Marie's grip tighten on his shoulder.

"Marie?" Stein turned his head to see Marie in an almost paralysed state.

"Marie, what is it?" Stein asked, seeing the shocked look on Marie's face. Marie glanced down at him, her breathing hastened and her pupils wide.

"My water just broke." Marie said, beginning to tremble and breathe loudly. Stein's eyes widened and he kicked his hair away, placing one hand on Marie's back and the other on her stomach.

"Where's your bag?" Stein asked, calmly.

"Uh… Uh, b-by the door." Marie said, trembling as she walked over to pick up her pre-packed bag. She took a breath in, trying to calm herself down, but as she did, her eyes widened. A wave of pain hit her like she'd just been kicked in the pelvis. Her fingernails dug into Stein's shoulder and she near-screamed.

"_Stein, do something!" _she exclaimed. Stein's eyes widened and he nodded.

"I'm trying!" he said.

"Why aren't you _freaking out_? Get Mira here _now!_" she screamed. Stein sighed and took Marie's bag from her and pulled out his phone.

"Oh, trust me, I'm freaking out. And I'm going!" Stein said, dialling Naigus' number. No doubt he'd hear from a pained Marie the list of reasons why they needed a car very soon. After a couple of rings, Naigus picked up.

"Mira? You need to get here _now_. Marie's in labour."

**A/N: Don't ya just love cliffhanger endings? Well, it's not **_**really**_** a cliffhanger, but it doesn't tie off the loose end. **

**Alright, that's a lie, it's a complete cliffhanger.**

**I figure that it's not that bad an ending, and it's really just an excuse so that I don't have to write the 'getting to the hospital' bullsh*t. But, you know, sorry if you don't like this.**


	29. The Day Arrives

**A/N: Alright, so, dis be the labour chapter! :) I'm taking a lot of this from stories I've heard and also from television shows I've watched. So, keep that in mind. **

**This chapter is ****really**** long. I could have broken it up into two chapters, but it wouldn't break evenly and it'd mean that I had 31 chapters ._. and that's unacceptable. Just saying.**

**I hope this chapter was worth the wait, my darlings :D**

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><p>"Well, well, well... this little girl isn't going to wait much longer." Doctor Katsuma said, looking at the sheet of paper coming out of one of the machines next to Marie's bedside. Marie was dressed in a hospital gown, laying back on the bed, her hair tied above her head and her face flushed. She had officially been in labour for almost ten hours, however, she hadn't had any indication as to when she would be able to push.<p>

Marie's water had broken at about ten in the morning, and it was currently quarter to eight at night. Marie was getting impatient, to say the least.

"She's not been…_waiting…_for the last ten hours!" Marie exclaimed, squeezing Stein's hand.

Stein sat next to her, his hand clamped firmly underneath hers, just as he had been for the past hours. He was lucky to be there; the fact that they didn't own a car meant that Naigus had to take them to the hospital, and Stein was sure that he'd have been killed if Naigus had stopped talking to Marie during the journey. Doctor Katsuma had buzzed the waiting room for Naigus a few minutes beforehand; hopefully, that meant that something had changed.

"_Ste-ei-ein!" _Marie said, managing to add two syllables to her partner's name as another contraction came. She squeezed his hand tightly and threw her head back in pain; she wasn't allowed to push yet.

"Marie, you're-" Stein strained.

"_Don't tell me what to do_! Aaargh!" Marie screamed, going red in the face as she continued to cut off circulation to Stein's hand.

"Alright, a good, solid contraction." Doctor Katsuma said. Marie's head bolted up, glaring at her doctor with angry, dark golden eyes.

"_Really?_ Never would have guess-Oh, Mother of-_gah_!" Marie yelled, as the contraction finally came to an end. Marie flopped back down onto the pillow, her breathing heavy.

"Oh... I, I can't do this!" Marie hyperventilated.

"Yes, you can." Stein said, quietly.

"Because it worked so well when you told me what to do _last time_." Marie said, glaring at Stein. He recoiled, going back to simply holding Marie's hand. Marie glanced over to the door as a bandaged woman poked her head around.

"Mira. You're still here." Marie said, slightly deliriously.

"Hey, Marie. Yes, I am. How long until the next contraction?" Naigus asked. Doctor Katsuma looked up.

"You've got about a minute." Doctor Katsuma said, putting her hair into a hospital cap as the nurse that was in the room did the same.

"Wait, why… why are you getting that on?" Marie asked.

"Because, if your contractions are less than two minutes apart, that means your little one is nearly ready to pop out." Doctor Katsuma said, pulling on a pair of surgical gloves.

"R-Really?" Marie asked, looking to Naigus for reassurance.

"Yeah. You're going to be alright, Marie. I'm out there with Sid, and Yumi and Spirit have said they're on their way." Naigus said.

"O-Okay." Marie gulped.

"Alright. I'm going to go back out with Sid. Good luck, Marie. You too, Franken. Take care of her." Naigus said, nodding at the couple. They nodded back as Stein sat deep in the chair, preparing for Marie's next contraction. Doctor Katsuma, who had gotten all into her surgical gear, sat at the end of Marie's bed.

"Alright, well, I think you can push with this next contraction. Are you sure you don't want any drugs?" Doctor Katsuma asked. Marie glared at the doctor over her knees.

"I'm sure." Marie said, definitively, pushing her head back, clutching Stein's hand. She felt the contraction arrive and she beared down, squeezing Stein's hand.

"Okay, take a deep breath, and hold it until the count of ten. As you do, push with all of your might. Okay? Ready?" Doctor Katsuma asked. Marie managed to squeak out something which vaguely sounded like 'Yes.'

"Alright, and... push!" Doctor Katsuma said, and Marie did that. She squeezed her eyes shut and clamped her hand around Stein's, counting to ten in her head.

"Good, good, good..." Doctor Katsuma said to Marie, who was going red in the face. She eventually let her breath go, her head dropping to the side and her breathing turning ragged.

"Hey... why don't you try the breathing thing you learnt in birthing class?" Stein asked. Marie opened her eyes only to glare at the silver-haired scientist.

"_No._" Marie snapped. Stein shrunk back, deciding not to suggest anything else to Marie.

"Alright, we ready to push again?" Doctor Katsuma asked. Marie nodded, before looking over at Stein, her eyes now full of fear.

"Stein...c-can you count with me?" Marie asked. Stein nodded.

"Alright, when you're ready." Doctor Katsuma said to them. Marie felt a contraction coming.

"R-Ready?" Marie asked Stein, apprehensively.

"Okay." Stein said. Marie squeezed her eyes shut tightly and clutched Stein's hand.

"One...two...three..." Stein counted along with Marie. Tears rolled from her clenched eyes as she felt more pain than she had ever felt before.

"...nine...ten." Stein finally finished counting, letting Marie expel her breath with a loud cry.

"Alright, that was a nice solid push." Doctor Katsuma said to Marie. Marie narrowed her eyes at the doctor.

"Mmhm." She said, through gritted teeth.

* * *

><p>Marie pushed a few more times, the contractions continually getting closer, edging closer and closer to the goal.<p>

After one of the seemingly never-ending pushes, she looked over at Stein. Worried Marie had turned back to Angry Marie.

"This is all _your _fault." Marie snarled. Stein was taken aback.

"What?" Stein asked. Marie grabbed him by the front of his shirt, twisting her clenched fist and pulling Stein towards her.

"_You did this to me!_" Marie hissed, saying the words so quickly that they sounded like one.

"Bu- I- Yes, yes, I did." Stein said. Marie let a sharp breath out and her grip released.

"Oh my... I'm sorr- Oh, _lord_!" Marie said, as another contraction hit her like a wave. She grabbed Stein's hand once again, digging her nails in as Doctor Katsuma looked over at her.

"Alright, Marie, this one's going to be difficult." Doctor Katsuma said.

"_The other ones weren't?_" Marie exclaimed, tears falling from her eyes once again.

"You can do this, Marie." Stein said to Marie, definitively. His commanding nature must have gotten through to Marie, as she took a sharp breath in, grit her teeth and nodded.

"Ready? And... _push_!" Doctor Katsuma said. Marie squeezed Stein's hand with one of hers and squeezed the railing of the bed with the other, every muscle in her body tensed up, and pushed with all of her might. It was, by far, the most painful contraction she had felt.

"And ten. Breathe." Doctor Katsuma said. Marie let go, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm gonna be sick." Marie said, out of breath, the colour draining from her face . Stein looked over at her.

"Ms Mjolnir, it's highly unlikely you will-" a young nurse said, but stopped as Marie shot a piercing glare. Marie took a deep breath and leant back, sniffling.

"It's not _fair._" Marie choked.

"I know. I know it's not fair, but it's going to be worth it." Doctor Katsuma said. By this time, Stein was standing behind Marie's head, a firm grip on her hand. After a few more seconds, another contraction came.

"_Aaargh!_" Marie said.

"Oh, this is _definitely _it. Come on, Marie, give it all you've got left." Doctor Katsuma said. Marie nodded. She took Stein's hand in hers, squeezed it tightly and pushed with all of the energy left in her reserves. She might have screamed, she might have yelled, but when she felt she had nearly nothing left, something willed her on.

"Come on, come on, come on... I can see her." Doctor Katsuma said, as Marie gave one last almighty push. She felt all of her muscles relax as Doctor Katsuma began to fuss about at the end of the bed. Marie's head fell to the side as she tried to catch her breath, her face red and sweaty. Stein leant down and kissed her on the forehead, though she was still ever so slightly delirious.

"You did great." Stein whispered. Marie smiled.

"I love you." Marie mouthed. Stein gave a small smile and nodded. He was tired, and he wasn't the one who'd just given birth.

"_Baby._" Marie whispered, trying to get Stein to check on their daughter. She hadn't heard any noises yet, and that worried her. Stein turned to Doctor Katsuma.

"Is she-" Stein began, but his question was answered before he even got to ask it. An almighty screech rang out through the entire room. Marie looked over at Stein, looking up at him with weary eyes.

"_Go._" she whispered, a smile across her face. He nodded, wordlessly, and walked over to Doctor Katsuma with slight apprehension.

"She's perfect. Here, come and cut the cord." Doctor Katsuma beckoned Stein over, and he followed her instruction. As he did, the little girl came into view. _His_ little girl. Doctor Katsuma asked him to cut the cord, and he did so, though the entirety of the situation hadn't quite hit him. The nurse took the little girl away, weighing her and taking hand and footprints.

However, the nurse looked shocked as she cleaned the baby off. The nurse waved over Doctor Katsuma, who chuckled and explained the situation to her, pointing to Stein in the process. The nurse sighed with relief. Marie, however, noticed the commotion, and began to stress.

"What's wrong? What is it?" Marie asked, shakily. Stein placed his hand on her shoulder.

"She's fine. I saw her." Stein said, slightly puzzled as to what the problem was. Doctor Katsuma turned around with Shelley, wrapped in a small pink blanket. They both then saw what caused the commotion. It was unmistakable.

"Oh." Marie said, giggling slightly.

Shelley had been... _blessed_… with Stein's silver hair. She didn't have a lot of it, but the hair she did have was unmistakably the same as her father's.

Marie failed to stifle tears as her bright red infant daughter was laid down on her chest. She gently placed one of her hands on her daughter's back. Stein looked up at Marie.

"Is she still my fault?" Stein asked. Marie giggled again.

"Well, if there was ever any doubt you were the father..." Marie smiled, her eyes still fixed on her daughter.

"Never." Stein shook his head, quietly, still looking at Shelley.

"Ten fingers?" Marie asked, weakly, counting the sprawled digits of the little girl. She smiled when she counted more than nine but less than eleven.

"Hey, Shelley." Marie said, looking at the little girl. She then looked over at Stein.

"D-Do you want to hold her?" Marie asked. Stein nodded. The nurse walked over to Marie, taking Shelley from her and turned to Stein.

"Wait." Stein said.

"What's wrong?" Marie asked, wearily.

"I don't know how to...you know..._hold_ the baby." Stein said, slightly embarrassedly. Marie looked over at him with sympathetic eyes. She mouthed an '_aww,_'which would have usually been followed by a glare from Stein, but he decided that an '_aww_' was acceptable from a woman who had just pushed out a baby. Marie began to wearily instruct him.

"You hold her head with one arm, her lower back with the other. Make sure you keep her head up." Marie said. Stein nodded as the nurse lowered Shelley into his arms. Stein took a hold of her. She was 7 pounds, a fact which should probably never be told to Kid if he met her, but she was tiny in Stein's arms. Stein didn't quite know what to do. He simply stared down at her when her petite, reddened eyes cracked open slightly.

"That's odd." Stein said.

"What?" Marie asked, her eyelids heavy.

"Her eyes... they're already coloured. Babies are usually born with grey or blue eyes." Stein said, looking down at his rather inquisitive looking daughter.

"Wh-What colour are they?" Marie asked. Stein looked up at Marie and couldn't help but smile.

"They're exactly like yours." Stein said, quietly. Marie smiled widely and took a deep breath in, pulling a recently acquired blanket over her frame.

"Do you want to go and introduce the new addition?" Doctor Katsuma asked. Stein looked over at Marie.

"Go. I'm just going to fall asleep for a few days." Marie said. As Stein stood up gently with his newborn daughter, Marie grabbed at the back of his labcoat.

"I love you." She mouthed.

"I love you too." Stein said back. Marie closed her eyes and her head fell to the side. As she did, the nurse led Stein out to the waiting room, where a group of tired looking people all lit up as they saw the little girl in Stein's arms.

Azusa, Naigus, Sid and Spirit were all there, and Maka was in tow with her father. Azusa and Naigus stood up, their faces uncharacteristically bright.

"Oh my..." Azusa began, looking at the baby girl.

"How's Marie?" Naigus asked.

"Tired. But she's alright." Stein said.

"She's got Marie's eyes. And your hair," Azusa began, "Does she have a name?"

"Marie didn't tell you?" Stein asked.

"If she'd told me, would I be asking you?" Azusa asked. Stein rolled his eyes.

"Shelley Yumi." Stein said. Azusa looked at him through her frames.

"What did you just say?" Azusa asked, taken slightly aback.

"You heard me." Stein replied. Azusa atypically blushed, before standing to the side to let Sid, Spirit and Maka see the little girl. Maka stood next to her father and couldn't help but smile. She also didn't have the heart to tell Stein that she knew about _his_ baby before he did. Stein looked up at Spirit.

"I know what you mean now, senpai." Stein said to his former weapon.

"What?" Spirit asked, looking away from Shelley. Stein glanced back down at his daughter and felt feelings he had never done so before. Not to mention the fact that he lacked feelings, such as the want to dissect, that he usually possessed.

"Happiest day of my life. Wouldn't change a thing."

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><p>The next morning, Stein, Marie and the new addition had hordes of visitors through. Shelley's Aunt Yumi came through first, Azusa's personality noticeably changing whilst holding the baby. Stein was out of the room as Marie and Azusa conversed.<p>

"She's very cute, Marie." Azusa said. Marie's eyes widened.

"Did you just say 'cute'?" Marie asked. Azusa laughed slightly.

"Why didn't you tell me about her middle name?" Azusa asked, Shelley still asleep in her arms. Marie smiled slightly.

"I wanted to keep it a surprise." Marie said.

"I'm honoured." Azusa smiled.

"To tell you the truth, it was Franken's idea." Marie said. Azusa turned to Marie, bespectacled eyes wide.

"No." Azusa said. Marie nodded.

"It was, I swear." Marie said. Azusa smiled slightly and looked back down at the baby girl.

"Even so, he'd never admit it." Azusa said. Marie sighed and smiled as Stein walked back into the room, taking a seat across from Azusa. Azusa looked up at him and sighed.

"Well, I'd best be off." Azusa said, lying Shelley back down in Marie's arms and leaving her with baby talk. She walked out of the room and Marie looked over at Stein, a small smile on her face.

Shelley proceeded to wake up with a wide, noisy yawn. Marie looked down at Shelley and smiled widely.

"Good morning." Marie said, cradling the back of Shelley's head and gently brushing her cheek. Golden eyes stared intently up at her as yet another set of guests walked in.

"Spirit, Maka, how are you?" Marie asked, looking over at them. Spirit chuckled and shook his head.

"You had a baby about twelve hours ago and you're asking how we are?" Spirit asked, walking over to the head of the bed and looking down at the little girl. Maka followed behind, holding a small, white rabbit in her hands. Marie smiled at the girl.

"For Shelley, Marie-sensei." Maka said, smiling slightly at the infant.

"Thank you very much, Maka. It's adorable." Marie said, taking the rabbit with one hand and settling it at the side of the bed. Spirit and Maka sat down, Spirit next to Stein and Maka opposite them.

"So, Stein, d'you feel any different?" Spirit asked. Stein raised an eyebrow.

"Should I?" Stein asked. Spirit smirked slightly.

"Normal people should. You, maybe not." Spirit said. Marie rolled her eyes and glared at Spirit.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Spirit." Marie said. Spirit crossed his arms and grinned.

"You guys'll be fine." Spirit said.

"Says the parenting oracle." Stein remarked. Spirit narrowed his eyes and Maka stifled a giggle. Marie turned to the intently watching Maka.

"Would you like to hold her?" Marie asked, causing Maka to smile slightly.

"If I'm allowed." she said, quietly. Marie looked over at Stein who stood up, taking Shelley in his arms and walking over to Maka, laying Shelley down in her arms. Marie couldn't help but smile.

"I think she likes you." Marie said quietly, Maka looking up at her.

"She's very cute, Marie-sensei." Maka smiled. Marie smiled back and sat up in bed. After a little while longer, Maka and Spirit left the hospital room. After receiving visits from Naigus, Sid and even a rare out-of-Shibusen appearance from Shinigami-sama, visiting hours were over. Stein sat back with the little girl in his arms, Marie lying on her side, facing them, in the bed.

"You can go home if you want, Stein. You'll wreck your back if you keep sleeping on that tiny couch." Marie said. Stein shrugged.

"I'll live." Stein replied, resting the infant over his shoulder and rubbing small circles into her back. Marie smiled and shook her head.

"Did you ever think you were going to be a father?" Marie asked. Stein smirked.

"Not in a million years, Marie." Stein said. Marie sighed slightly.

"Well, in that case, I'm glad our contraception failed." Marie said, her voice small. Stein raised an eyebrow.

"You would have become a mother, one way or another, with or without me." Stein said. Marie shook her head.

"Not without you." she said, quietly. Stein's eyes widened slightly.

"Really?" Stein asked. Marie nodded.

"There never was anyone but you." Marie said, quietly and solemnly. Stein, taken slightly aback, chuckled to himself and smiled.

"I love you, Stein." Marie said, quietly.

"And, for the life o me, I can't work out why." Stein replied.

"Honey, an 'I love you too' would suffice." Marie said, a small smile on her face.

"I love you too, Marie." he replied. Marie smiled even wider and readjusted herself to lay on her back, a more comfortable position.

"You should talk to her. They say it's good for the baby. Bonding and such." Marie said, tiredly. Stein rolled his eyes and looked at Marie.

"Really?" he asked. Marie sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know. It might be an idea." Marie smiled. Stein sighed and looked down at the little girl; _his_ little girl. Marie had fallen asleep by this point, Stein switching off the overhead light above her bed

_If a child is abandoned by its own parents, who will it be able to trust?_

His daughter was going to have someone to trust.

Stein swallowed his pride and looked down at his daughter. He held her in front of him, sitting her up to the extent that a one-day-old could.

"I'm sorry, but you don't have grandparents. But, that's okay. Because your mother and I… Well, our families weren't the best, let's leave it there. But we're going to stay with you. I can promise you that." Stein said, quietly. The little girl blinked at him, her cheeks red and her eyes staring intently.

"We've not had a chance to be properly introduced. I'm Franken Stein." Stein began. And with the next words Stein uttered, a small, proud, sleepy smile appeared on Marie's face.

"I'm your dad. And now, you and Marie are my family."

**A/N: Alright, alright, so, Stein was a little OOC in this chapter. **

**(Though technically we don't know that he's OOC, because he's never **_**actually**_** had a baby with Marie *damn, shakes fists, prays for SteinxMarie to be canon* :P)**

_**But,**_** it's freaking adorable and I regret nothing. **

**Sorry that chapter's so long, I just had so much I needed to put in :D**


	30. A New Beginning

**A/N: LAST CHAPTER D: But, don't fret, there will be a sequel or two. Maybe more, I don't know. **

**I just wanted to dedicate this last chapter to all of you readers, who have stuck by me. **

**From spontaneous sex to accidental pregnancy, from telling Stein 'I'm pregnant' to telling Marie 'I love you,' from picking the name to finally meeting the baby, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I hope to see you all back for the sequel. I can tell you that it'll be a lot of fun. I hope you've had as much fun reading as I've had writing :') **

**Alright, enough of that crap, the story isn't even over yet.**

* * *

><p>"First name?" the registration officer asked Marie, who was nursing Shelley. The little girl had been born three days ago now. She was really quite peaceful when she was being fed.<p>

"Shelley. S-H-E-L-L-E-Y." Marie said to the man, who nodded.

"And, are we having a middle name?" he asked.

"Yes. Yumi. Y-U-M-I." Marie said back, handing Shelley to Stein. Stein put the girl over his shoulder, patting her on the back.

"Okay, and she's taking the father's last name?" the man asked. Marie nodded.

"Alright, all done. Congratulations." The man said, before leaving Stein and Marie alone with their daughter. Stein held her up, one hand under her legs, the other supporting her neck. The little girl squirmed slightly, her arms moving quite a lot. She seemed to try and grab at her father's face, particularly the stitches which ran across it. Stein smirked and laid her back down in the small plastic bassinet.

"She sure likes your stitches." Marie said, glancing over at the baby girl.

"Tell me about it." Stein said, sitting back down on the chair next to Marie.

"Nickname?" Marie asked.

"Huh?" Stein asked.

"Well, she needs a nickname." Marie said. Stein smirked.

"Like yours?" Stein chuckled.

"Well, if we choose it, then she'll have ages to get used to it. And she won't get stuck with something like 'The Pulveriser.'" Marie said, slight disdain showing through at her nickname. Stein looked over at her.

"'Stitches' it is." Stein said back to Marie. Marie smiled. She looked down at her now small stomach.

"It's weird not being pregnant." Marie said.

"You do know you spent half the time you were pregnant _complaining_ about being pregnant, right?" Stein asked.

"Well..." Marie said. The two smiled at each other.

"Well, are you ready to go?" Stein asked. Marie nodded and gently slid her legs out of the hospital bed. Stein helped Marie up from the bed and she walked over to her daughter.

"We're going home." Marie said to her daughter, her awfully striking deep golden eyes looking up at her mother's. Marie picked up Stitches and walked her over to the car seat they had waiting. She buckled the little girl in, watching her fall asleep in the process. Marie looked over at Stein.

"You ready?" Stein asked. Marie nodded, wrapping her arm around Stein's waist. Stein picked up the little girl and the three of them took their first steps out of that hospital room, together. As a family.

* * *

><p>Marie, Stein and Stitches arrived home later that day. The laboratory was comparatively quiet to the hustle of the hospital, what with the doctors, nurses and all of the machines. Which, coincidentally, Marie was glad to be away from.<p>

"She still asleep?" Marie asked Stein, who was carrying the little girl.

"Soundly." Stein replied. Their baby slept well; during the day, that was.

"I see you're already adapting." Marie said to the man who didn't even know how to _hold _a baby five days ago.

"All good creatures must adapt." Stein said to Marie, sitting down on a chair and laying Shelley on his lap, the little girl's eyes shut in slumber. Marie shook her head and laughed.

"Anyone else would find that weird." Marie smiled.

"Well, it's lucky that you're not anyone else then, isn't it?" Stein said back. Marie rolled her eyes and smiled, walking over to Stein and gently picking their daughter off of his lap. Marie placed her gently over her shoulder, the thin layer of silver hair brushing against her cheek.

The little girl stirred, and became restless. Marie rubbed small circles into Stitches' back. She still wouldn't settle.

"Come on, Stitches." Marie said, quietly, walking around the room and continuing to rub her daughter's back. She continued to cry, not settling at all. Stein stood up and walked over to Marie, motioning for the little girl. Marie took the crying infant off of her shoulder and placed her in Stein's arms.

They weren't sure whether it was his strength or his demeanour, but Stein seemed to be able to calm Stitches down in a way no nurse or other doctor could.

Marie looked on lovingly as the little girl's sobs subsided, the little girl's eyes turning to an expression which could only be explained as inquisitive. Stein held her upright in front of him.

She, once again, began to writhe, her hands seemingly trying to grab at the stitches on Stein's face. Stein raised an eyebrow.

"Apt nickname, Stitches." Stein looked over at Marie, the little girl still appearing to grab at his face. It was probably just a coincidence, but still.

"How do you do that? Calm her down like that?" Marie asked.

"How should I know?" Stein asked, pulling the baby girl close to his chest again and walking off into his and Marie's bedroom. Marie followed him and watched as he laid the girl down the bottom of the bassinet, tucking her in and placing his hand lightly on her stomach, watching as she closed her eyes, making the little typical baby sighing noise. Stein turned around and Marie wrapped her arms around Stein's neck, tilting her head up at him.

"Hi." Stein said, chuckling slightly at Marie's actions.

"First day of the rest of our lives, hey?" Marie asked.

"That was terribly clichéd." Stein said to the blonde Deathscythe.

"Shut up." Marie said. Stein smirked and ducked under Marie's grasp, turning slightly and walking around to the back of her, leaning his elbow on her shoulder.

"So... do you feel any different?" Stein asked.

"I feel about three tonnes lighter." Marie remarked, looking at the man standing next to her. Stein raised an eyebrow and Marie giggled.

"I feel... like a mother." Marie said, looking at her daughter. No, not her daughter. _Their_ daughter.

"That's probably a good thing." Stein said to her.

"And you? Do you feel like a dad?" Marie asked.

"I don't know. It hasn't really sunk in yet." Stein replied.

"Well, you've only had, what, 7 and a half months? Well... how do you feel about her?" Marie asked, glancing at the newborn.

"I... I feel like I have to protect her from the world. It's a dangerous place out there." Stein said. Marie smiled contentedly.

"Yeah. You feel like a dad." Marie beamed. Stein looked over at her, slightly shocked.

A dad. He was a father. He was the father of the tiny human life in front of him.

He came back to reality, Marie clicking her fingers in front of his face. Marie sighed.

"Where'd you go?" Marie asked.

"What?" Stein asked.

"You had that contemplation look on your face." Marie said. Stein sighed, sitting back on the bed, flopping onto his back. Marie laid down next to him and he pulled his arm around onto her hip.

"We're parents. Parents, Marie." Stein said, his eyes shut. Marie looked over at him.

"You...You're scared, aren't you?" Marie asked. Stein glared at her.

"No. I don't get scared." Stein said, nonchalantly.

"It's okay, Stein. I'm... I'm scared too. But...we can be scared together. Okay?" Marie asked, taking a hold of Stein's hand tightly. Stein looked over at her, still not willing to admit whether he was scared or not.

"Well, what if I said something like this? Humans have fear as a warning device. But, some of the greatest feelings come from the times where we overcome fear." Marie said. Stein looked over at her. Marie was deceptively smart.

"That better?" Marie asked. Stein smirked at her faintly. Marie leant on her arm slightly, propping herself up to kiss Stein on the lips. Stein wrapped his arm around Marie's waist, pulling her on top of him.

She giggled slightly as their situation heated up, their breathing becoming more laboured. As Marie took a grip of Stein's wrist, a noise caused them to break apart.

They turned their heads to Stitches, who was in the bassinet, her wailing having started again.

"Do you want me to-" Marie began.

"I've got her." Stein said, rolling Marie off of him gently and sitting up, walking over to the bassinet. He saw her face was scrunched up in discomfort. He picked up the little girl, placing her over his shoulder and patting her on the back, gently. She tensed up, causing Stein to worry slightly.

"Wh-" Stein began, before Stitches let out a small burp. She sighed contently, smiling and resting her head back on Stein's shoulder. Marie giggled slightly, her hand over her heart.

"She's such a daddy's girl." Marie said.

"She's five days old." Stein said, lying Stitches back in the bassinet. Marie got up and rested her hands around Stein's waist, setting her head down on his chest. She sighed contently as Stitches finally settled herself back to sleep.

That was the first day Stein and Marie finally belonged in a family; together.

**A/N: It's finished! :') Like I said at the beginning of this chapter, I thank you all for reading, you're all amazing and you're made of rainbows. I'll see you back for the sequel, which should be up ASAP :) Until next time, my gorgeous readers...**

**~Ri-chan.**


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